


Who's That Girl?

by Bouquet_Rosie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, I Don't Even Know, New Girl au, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2018-12-17 18:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11857431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bouquet_Rosie/pseuds/Bouquet_Rosie
Summary: [On Hiatus] After a bad breakup, Pidge finds herself having to find a new apartment which brings her to the loft of Lance, Keith and Hunk. It's may not be the ideal situation but hey the rent is cheap. Nothing could go wrong, right?





	1. new roommates.

**Author's Note:**

> New Girl is one of my favourite shows and i thought it would be good to mix it with Voltron. So I did. Enjoy. No beta, If anybody wants to do that ask me.

"Well you might be wondering why I'm looking to move here, well i finished from MIT about six months ago, earned a Master's in computer science and engineering if you're wondering, which you might not have been doing but whatever, anyway, and i got a job here in New York so my boyfriend and I decided to move here, we found our own place and I thought everything was going great... and then it went downhill."

* * *

  _"_ _Are_ _you_ _sure_ _about_ _this_ _Pidge_ _?"_ _Her_ _friend_ _sounded_ _sceptical_ _._ _Allura_ _knew_ _that_ _Pidge_ _wasn_ _'_ _t_ _someone_ _who_ _enjoyed_ _surprises_ _._ _She_ _liked_ _knowing_ _what_ _to_ _expect_ _and_ _last_ _time_ _Allura_ _decided_ _to_ _throw_ _her_ _a_ _surprise_ _party_ _it_ _did_ _not_ _end_ _well_ _._

 _"_ _Yes_ _,_ _he_ _think_ _'_ _s_ _I_ _will_ _be_ _back_ _tomorrow_ _,_ _I_ _thought_ _it_ _would_ _be_ _nice_ _."_ _Pidge_ _sighed_ _,_ _resting_ _her_ _phone_ _in_ _the_ _side_ _of_ _her_ _neck_ _,_ _she_ _hunted_ _through_ _her_ _bag_ _to_ _find_ _change_ _for_ _the_ _cab_ _and_ _her_ _keys_ _for_ _her_ _new_ _place._ _"_ _Anything_ _wrong_ _with_ _that_ _?"_ _She_ _asked_ _sharply_ _,_ _grabbing_ _her_ _phone_ _and_ _holding_ _it_ _to_ _her_ _ear_ _again_ _._ _Allura_ _knew_ _there_ _was_ _only_ _one_ _answer_ _to_ _that_ _question_ _._

 _"_ _NO_ _,_ _no_ _of_ _-_ _course_ _not_ _it_ _just_ _-_ _Well_ _it_ _'_ _s-urm. Not really you_ _"_ _Pidge_ _sighed_ _again_ _._ _She_ _was_ _doing_ _that_ _a_ _lot_ _during_ _this_ _conversation_ _._

 _"_ _I_ _know_ _but_ _he_ _loves_ _them_ _,_ _and_ _I_ _love_ _him_ _"_

 _"_ _Okay_ _then_ _"_ _Her_ _friend_ _acknowledged_ _. "_ _Gotta_ _go_ _,_ _I_ _need_ _to_ _do_ _some_ _last_ _-_ _minute_ _preparation_ _for_ _this_ _briefing_ _."_ _Pidge_ _could_ _hear_ _her_ _getting_ _more_ _distant_ _from_ _the_ _phone_ _call_ _. "_ _Bye_ _Pidgey_ _"_ _she_ _said_ _with_ _a_ _teasing_ _tone_ _._

 _"_ _I_ _told_ _you_ _not_ _-"_ _Pidge_ _pulled_ _the_ _phone_ _away_ _from_ _her_ _face_ _"-_ _and_ _she_ _hung_ _up_ _the_ _phone_ _."_ _she_ _dropped_ _her_ _phone_ _back_ _into_ _her_ _bag_ _._ _A_ _Couple_ _of_ _minutes_ _later_ _,_ _she_ _exited_ _the_ _cab_ _and_ _opened_ _the_ _front_ _door_ _to_ _her_ _new_ _house_ _._

 _"_ _Hello_ _?_ _Anyone_ _home_ _?"_ _she_ _called_ _,_ _Looking_ _around_ _to_ _find_ _any_ _signs_ _of_ _life_ _._ _She_ _walked_ _into_ _the_ _living_ _room_ _and_ _that_ _was_ _when_ _Joe_ _appeared_ _at_ _the_ _kitchen_ _door_ _._ _Wearing_ _nothing_ _besides_ _the_ _apron_ _tied_ _around_ _his_ _waist_ _._

 _"_ _Katie_ _!"_ _He_ _had_ _a_ _startled_ _look_ _on_ _his_ _face_ _,_ _fidgeting_ _with_ _his_ _hands_ _like_ _he_ _wanted_ _to_ _do_ _something_ _but_ _couldn_ _'_ _t_ _._ _Pidge_ _was_ _confused_ _,_ _he_ _only_ _called_ _her_ _Katie_ _when_ _it_ _was_ _something_ _serious_ _. "_ _I_ _thought_ _that_ _you_ _didn_ _'_ _t_ _come_ _back_ _until_ _tomorrow_ _"_ _He_ _didn_ _'_ _t_ _sound_ _like_ _she_ _thought_ _he_ _would_ _,_ _no_ _smile_ _tugging_ _at_ _his_ _lips_ _,_ _no_ _happiness_ _in_ _his_ _voice_ _but_ _something_ _else_ _._ _Guilt_ _?_ _Dread_ _?_ _Pidge_ _thought_ _._ _He_ _just_ _stared_ _at_ _her_ _like_ _he_ _was_ _expecting_ _something_ _._

 _That something happened to appear right behind him_ _._

 _A blonde haired woman came out from the kitchen_ _,_ _giggling_ _,_ _to_ _stop_ _next_ _to_ _him_ _._ _She_ _also_ _was_ _also_ _wearing_ _nothing_ _besides_ _her_ _underwear_ _._ _The_ _smile_ _on_ _her_ _face_ _instantly_ _fell_ _when_ _seeing_ _Pidge_ _._ _Who_ _stood_ _there_ _shocked_ _,_ _turning_ _to_ _face_ _Joe_ _that_ _shock_ _quickly_ _turned_ _to_ _anger_ _._ _She_ _was_ _seething_ _._

 _"_ _YOU_ _FUCKING_ _SON_ _OF_ _A_ _-"_

* * *

" -there was a lot of curse words after that, from my end, In multiple languages too. So that's the answer to why I'm here, and that wasn't the question." Pidge let out a long breath. She looked between the four sets of eyes that were studying her. Three men sitting on the couch and standing behind it. "I'm sorry what was the question again?" asked Pidge while messing with her ponytail.

 "Do you have any pets?"

* * *

"You know." Pidge started as she got up from the armchair to look around. " The ad said they were looking for a 4th roommate or was I wrong on that?" She started to walk around the apartment and peeked through the windows, Not a bad view, she thought.

"This place is amazing, It has tons of space and the apartment is nice. My ex, He wasn't a fan of apartments he liked having multiple floor levels. You know?" They shook their heads no, she never understood it either but she thought it was funny at the time so she went along with it.

"To answer your question from before." Said one of them, he was wearing mainly black and had a white streak in his dark hair. "You were right there are only three roommates" He gestured to the three boys one the couch, "I'm moving out and I came to pick up the last of my things"

" Why are you moving out?" Pidge asked still looking out the window, she could she a pizza place around the corner. Nice.

"Well I-"

"He's abandoning us" Shouted one of the boys from the couch and he jumped over the back of it to stand next to Shiro. Pidge recalls that his name is Lance.

"I'm not abandon-"

"Yes you are, You are leaving us for a new job and fancy new apartment"

"It's a Promotion and I'm moving three blocks away" said Shiro, exasperated. "Well I don't give a-"

"LANCE" shouted the one wear a red cropped jacket, Keith, pulling Lance out of his soon to be possible rant. "5 Bucks in the jar"

"For that? Fine" Lance reluctantly walked over to the side table and put 5 dollars in a jar labelled "too much" jar. Appropriate.

"Sorry about him, he can be a bit." Said Hunk.

"Too much?" Answered Keith and Pidge at the same time.

" But yeah."

"I'm Still right here." Answered lance, gesturing wildly in front of his face.

 "We Know" Said Pidge without looking at him and continued to wander around the apartment. All the existing roommates were standing now and watched her look around.

" I actually wanted to move in this area its closer to my job but my boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend now said he wanted somewhere closer to his old home. I thought it was so he could be near his family when actually it was so he could fuck his old girlfriend but whatever" She didn't even try to hide the bitterness in her voice.

She walked over to the kitchen counter and the boys followed her.

"Still hard to talk about, huh?" Hunk asked in a sweet voice. _Seems_ _like_ _he_ _'_ _s_ _this_ _nice_ _one_. "Don't worry Lance gets it, he got dumped" Hunk said, pointing his thumb to Lance.

"I didn't get dumped. It was a mutual decision." Lance added, trying to defend himself.

"A mutual decision that she dumped you?" Input Keith.

"NO, it-" Shiro placed his hand on Lance's shoulder to stop him raising his voice. From just a short meeting Pidge gathered that there was a lot of yelling in this apartment. But hey, she could get used to it.

"You know what?" She exclaimed while slamming her palms on the table. It gathered their attention. Good." I want to live here"

"No offense, but we don't really know you." said Keith.

"Okay so I'm kind of emotional now because of the break up so expect a lot of swearing and playing video games, well i do that normally but probably more than usual, I have a teaching at the garrison for computer science and other sciences which does take up quite a bit of time." Katie started fidgeting with her hands " For the past few weeks I've been staying with my friend Allura, But it's too crowded, She's a model" That seemed to perk Lance up. "all her roommates are models"

"How soon can you move in?" Asked Lance, Surprising her but not the others who tried to subtly stop him by grabbing his arm.

"Wait a minute." Started Keith.

"Uh, Lance, Keith, Shiro, maybe we should go discuss this somewhere else." Hunk said gesturing for them to follow him to the bathroom.

* * *

"Lance what the hell was that?"

"Okay, I admit I may have acted a little quickly but come on she is friends with models. MODELS" Lance emphasised it hoping it would get a response. It didn't. "Okay, that won't work. So I don't know."

"What's everyone's opinion on this." Asked Shiro clearly being the level headed one in the group. "I don't live here anymore so I don't have one. Hunk?"

"I say we should let her stay, She seems nice." replied Hunk.

"She seems Nice isn't a good enough reason for her to live here, I'm still not sure." Added Keith. "Lance it's up to you"

"Okay so you both raise good points, as you both know I have lived woman Nyma." Lance paused while the other three clearly showed their feelings about her in their facial expressions, none of them being positive. "So I know there are both pro and real cons guys. Pro. They smell nice. Con. You don't always know what they are thinking and it can drive you a little crazy, pro, they are really good at folding-"

"JUST MAKE A DESICION" Keith yelled.

"Actually you know what I'm going just do this" lance starts pulling his hood over his head and face

"Don't do the hood thing it's ridiculous-"

"I'm sorry I can't you, the hoods blocking-"

"No it isn't"

"La, la, la I can't hear you-"

"Hey." Hunk raised his voice to grab their attention. " I say she's in"

"YES. I'm in" they heard a shout and Shiro opened the door to see Pidge standing there. "Okay yes I was listening in at the door, but I would have heard you guys anyway considering how much shouting you do. You are not gonna regret this"

* * *

 

"Yes mom I'm fine," Pidge was lying on the couch talking to her mother on the phone while watching Dirty Dancing." Yes I am over it I've mourned the relationship, Yes I do have roommates. No mom" Lance walked out of his bedroom into the front lounge, still groggy from sleep "Ugh Hey Lance are you gonna murder me because you're a stranger I met on the internet"

"Possibly" he replied while walking over to the kitchen and pouring himself some coffee while Keith and hunk came though the front door and walked over to him.

" Shiro has officially moved in" Hunk said who took the coffee pot of Lance and poured his own, sitting on the stool near where Lance and Keith were standing and turned to look at him. "And, That party we wanted to go to, you may need to call Nyma"

"No I'm not calling her"

"Lance just hear me out-" Keith covered hunk's mouth with his hand and shushed him. He Slowly moved his hand and pointed it to Pidge who was still on the phone to her mother who they could hear was shouting through the phone.  
"It has been a week of this madness, I can't take it anymore. I was not aware that I would have to watch Dirty Dancing every hour of every day."

" And" Lance said, also pointing to Pidge "that phone call has lasted three hours and I now know stuff that I never needed to, Did you know tha-"

"You can't complain. We are kind of in this situation because of you?" Keith interrupted. "You wanted her here so you could meet her friends."  
"And that hasn't happened."

"BYE MOM" Pidge shouted, grabbing the boys attention just as she threw her phone into the couch and turned to face them. " You know if you are planning to murder me do it quickly, because if not, I'm going to do it myself if I have to talk to my mother again." Pidge groaned and threw head back onto the couch. Grabbing a pillow she put it on her face and screamed in frustration.

"You know what I'm going to fix this." Hunk said and walked over to sit on the couch next to her. Sensing this Pidge removed the cushion from her face and turned to look at him. "Hey Pidge, are you feeling any better?" Hunk asks while taking the remote and turning off the TV.

"Well my anger about my cheating ex-boyfriend has redirected to my mother who thinks that maybe i got it wrong and he wasn't cheating on me. Which then escalated into an elaborate bullshit story, and I will spare you the details" Pidge cuddled the pillow close to her chest.

"You need to get out of the house." Lance said from the kitchen. "Why don't you come out with us tonight? After work, We can try to find you a rebound and help you get over John"

"Joe"

"Whatever, A rebound will help you feel better."

"Really?" Pidge threw the cushion onto the couch and stood up to face him "How's that been working for you?" She asked which caused Lance to frown and Hunk and Keith to snicker. "You know what, I'll go. But no rebounds" She was pointing at Lance as she stormed into her room.

* * *

"Hunk I'm not going to call my Ex-girlfriend just so you can go to a party" Lance exclaimed walking into the bathroom with Hunk following him. Lance stood by the shower waiting for someone to come out.

"Please Lance it's not for the party. It's the caterers" Lance groaned as if he has he heard this a million times. "They make the most perfect appetizers I have ever tasted and I am this close to find out the recipe for them all"

"Do you guys even realise I'm in here?" Pidge asked in disbelief from behind the shower curtain.

"Yes" Lance said, clearly not caring. "I'm going to need the shower after you by the way, Also don't steal any for my products. I have a specific routine when it comes to them"

"I won't" answered Pidge turning the water off.

"Thank you"

"Lance just call Nyma" Hunk said. "You do it all the time when you are drunk anyway"

"I have no idea to what you are referring" Lance answered innocently.

" Ugh, Just call her" Pidge stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her, She tied her wet hair into a ponytail and turned to face Lance. "Get it over and done with he won't stop asking until you do." She turned to walk out, hitting Lance with her hair when she does so. "What is even so good about this food anyway?"

"Well." Hunk started and following her out of the bathroom.

* * *

 

"You know" Lance said, Walking over to Pidge who was sat at bar across from him and was working on her laptop, He passed her a beer and took a sip without looking at him, Lance leaned on the bar, directly across from her "When we invited you out tonight I actually expected you to try and have fun."

"You're one to talk, Aren't you also working." She replied still not looking up at him.

"Yes but I work here so it's not as nerdy or anti social." He said in a teasing tone which caused her to look up.

"Me? Anti-social? Never" She said sarcastically causing Lance to let out a small laugh,

 _he has a nice laugh, whoa where did that come from_ _?_

She turned back to her laptop "Anyway, doing work gets my mind off things."

"Like what. Your ex-boyfriend?"

"Among other things"

 "You know" Lance pushed himself off the bar and stood up straighter and messed with the towel in his hand. " a rebound would make you feel better."

 "No it won't, I've never really been that great at that stuff."

"What do you mean?" Pidge shut her laptop abruptly, startling Lance and she turned to face him clasping her hands together and rest her chin on them.

"What about you?" she asked avoiding his question "If you're going to ask about my shitty relationship I get to ask about yours. So tell me"

"It was six months ago, I'm over it" Lance answered sharply, then his voice turned softer. "Do you ever wonder why they did this?"

"Did what?" She knew what he meant but she wanted to hear what he said. She hadn't seen him this vulnerable about his past relationship, just defensive acting like it didn't happen, she could relate.

"Do you ever think is there something that you could have differently? Like what did we do wrong?"

"Honestly" Pidge said with her voice softer as well "I think when someone is ending your relationship, or ruining one in my case, it says more about them that it does about you." She gave Lance a soft smile which he returned, causing her neck to flush. Thank god she was wearing a turtleneck sweater.

She turned to the side to avoid his gaze and noticed Hunk and Keith talking to a guy with long hair that was so blond it was almost white. She could she that the conversation was _not_ going well.

"Who's that talking to Hunk and Keith?" She asked causing Lance to turn to where she was looking and his face when he saw it and his smile twisted into a frown.

"Lotor, We went to college with him. Prick"

"I'm going to assume he isn't Friend of yours?" She said with humour back in her voice.

"Nah he's an asshole, he really annoys the fuck out Keith especially."

"Oh but I thought that was your job"

"Yeah but I'm adorable" He looked back at Pidge with a smirk, who rolled her eyes. He slapped his hand down the table "Well I've gotta get back to work. See ya later Pidge"

"See ya" She said as Lance walked over to talk to another customer. Pidge turned back to her laptop and didn't notice the guy that walked up to her so she was startled when he said hello.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay"

"Can I make it up you, buy you a drink or something? Name's Eric" He offered out his hand and she shook it.

"Katie" Maybe Lance was right, A rebound may make her feel better. But of course she would never tell him that.

* * *

 

"Keith, Hunk it's a pity that you can't go to the party" Lotor walked over to hunk and Keith who were now sat at other end of the bar. Lotor leaned against it clearly enjoy tormenting them. And it's working, if Hunk didn't have such a tight hold on Keith's arm he was pretty sure Keith was going to slap him.

"Who said we are not going to the party?" Lance said as he walked over to them. As much as Lotor enjoyed tormenting them Lance was just as good at tormenting him but with Lance it wasn't as intentional or spiteful.

"Really?" Lotor asked taking a step back. "Great, love to see you guys there." He said and slapped Keith on the shoulder as he walked off.

"Hate that guy." said Keith through gritted teeth and took a sip of his drink.

 "So does everyone" Hunk replied and turns towards Lance "Did you really call her?"

"Texted, But yeah, I'm over her so it's fine." He waved it off but Hunk leaned of the bar and gave him a quick hug.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Lance looked over to left and saw Pidge walking over to them with a guy. Huh. Lance thought he saw him with Lotor earlier.

"So I'll see you tomorrow sailor" Said Eric.

"Sure I'll see you then" She turns to face the guys. How were all curious about this development.

"What's happening tomorrow, Sailor" asked Lance,. "Did you listen to about me a rebound"

"No, It's just a date it's not a rebound." She went to sit on the stool between Hunk and Keith.

"Admit it, I was Right"

"Never"

* * *

When Lance heard the knock at the door got up from the couch and went to open it, When he did he saw a beautiful dark-skinned woman with white hair standing in front of him.

"Hey" Lance said leaning on the door frame. "Name's Lance what's yours?" He flirty voice caused Hunk and Keith to groan from the couch. The woman just walked past him, pushing him out of the way, and looked around the loft which caused the guys to be confused. Lance walked back over the couch.

"Pidge, you in here?"

"Be out in a second Allura" She called from her bedroom. Allura turned to the three boys.

"Okay. You guys better listen to me." She said pointing at them. "Pidge is my oldest and closest friend so if any of you let anything bad happen to her, I will get back at you."

"Oh are you the model?" Lance said causing Keith to drop his face in his hand and Hunk to roll his eyes, Clearly disappointed with their friend's approach. Pidge walked out of her bedroom.

"Lance." Pidge said, irritated." Don't even try, she will eat you alive."

"Well I wouldn't mind that" Pidge rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Okay" Hunk grabbed the jar and held it in front of the Lance who but something in it. Hunk looked inside, "That's a discount voucher for the pizza place."

"I'm a bartender I'm not loaded with money" Lance said and spread his arms across the back of the couch. Allura and Pidge walked back into her bedroom, Leaving her roommates to another one of their arguments.

"Urm" Allura started. "I thought I was the one who was meant to be giving you dating advice, not your new roommates?" Pidge laughed softly, she knew Allura was only joking and that it came from a place of love. Pidge let out a sigh.

"Should I be doing this? The last first date I had been was with Joe and that was over three years ago." Pidge sat down on her bed and was messing with an item of clothing. "What if I've got nothing to talk about." Allura sat down on the bed next to her.

"Look Pidge, I know you got hurt, and I know you like to pretend you didn't, but you need to this"

"Okay." Pidge sighed and stood back up. Allura finally took in her outfit, she was wearing overalls.

"You are not going out wearing that."

"I have nothing else." Allura just gave her a smirk.

* * *

Now the argument had ended, Keith and Hunk were now sat at the back of the room at the dining table and Lance was sat on the sofa while on his laptop, the all looked up to see the girls walk in. Allura was wearing overalls and Pidge was wearing Allura's black dress and had her hair down. 

"Wow" Hunk said. "Thanks hunk. Well I've got a date. I'm just gonna text and tell him I'm heading over." she took out her phone and walked over to the door with Allura.

"Wait you've been texting him?" Asked Lance which caused Pidge to turn back to him.

"Yeah is that bad?"

"No it's nice." Lance smiled which she returned. "Have a good night." Pidge and Allura walked out the door.

* * *

Pidge was sat at the restaurant waiting for her date, Hopefully he would arrive soon. She had been saying that to herself for the past half hour. She messed with the basket which had all the bread, well did, she already ate all of it. The waitress walked over to her. Pidge knew she was meant to leave but she wasn't ready yet. _Just my luck, My first date after Joe and I've already been stood up_. Pidge turned to the waitress.

"I'm sorry" Said the waitress in a sympathetic voice seeing Pidge had been stood up. " We have to ask you to leave the table." Pidge put her hands up in defeat.

"Okay let me just get my stuff" Pidge reached for her bag but then she heard her name being called.  
"Pidge." "We're here." "Sorry we're late." See looked up to see her new roommates walking over to her. _They came here?_ They arrived at the table and Lance rested his hands on it.

"We're her boyfriends."

"I'm sorry you're all her boyfriends?" Asked the waitress, who was clearly eyeing Keith, which made him shift under her gaze.

"Yeah." Lance answered but was still facing Pidge. "We are, one man just isn't enough for her?" The waitress walked off.

"Look Pidge that guys a jerk. I'm sorry we kinda forced you into this."

"It's Okay." Pidge answered, her eyes started to well up. "You guy's missed your party to come see?"

"Of course we did, we care about you" Hunk answered, "We like ya, there is always more parties."

"That's so nice" She was crying now. Great, Pidge hated people to see her cry, and in a public place too.

"Stop it." Keith demanded but Lance whacked his arm, Pidge couldn't blame him, he was trying. It didn't stop her crying though and she put her face in the napkin to hide her face and wipe her eyes. And then Lance started singing.

"For I've had. The time of my life-" "Lance what are you doing-" Hunk asked but lance nudged him to get him to sing.

"There are bears in my house. And don't know the lyrics to this song" Hunk sang and then just started humming the theme. Keith shook his head in disapproval.

"No I'm not doing this-" _whack_ "Just remember you're the one thing I can't get enough of" All the boys were singing now,

"and I'll tell you something, this could be love BECAUSE-" Pidge was now laughing instead of crying, she decided to join in.

"I'VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE-"

"HEY" the waitress from before came over to them. Hunk had to be nudged to stop him from doing a high note. They then noticed all the other customers were staring at them. "You have to leave" She pointed towards the exit. "All of you."

They continued to sing and laugh as the left the restaurant. So she just got out of a long-term relationship but she had these guys, yeah they may be a little weird and loud but they were her roommates and with them everything was going to be just fine.


	2. Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After living with them a few weeks the guys ask Pidge for a favour, and it isn't a small one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second chapter. Thank you so much for kudos and comments I love you all.

Keith and Lance were sat on Pidge's bed while she hunted in her closet to find something to wear to the wedding, How could they ask her two days before the wedding? She had no time to prepare. She couldn't ask Allura to help her find something as she was out of town for a business meeting or was it photo shoot? She couldn't remember, the point was she wasn't there and she had to do this all by herself. The boys said they would help her but the just sat there. _Liars_.

"Right, so this is our first wedding together so we will need nicknames, I'll be Lancelot-"

"Nope, not doing that," Pidge said as she came out holding two long dresses, both boys shook their heads no and she groaned walking back into her closet. "My only job is to be your girlfriend and keep you out of trouble with Nyma"

"She already has a nickname anyway, It's Pidge." Keith said and then his face turned curious "What is the reasoning behind that anyway?"

"Why do I have to pretend to by his girlfriend?" she whined ignoring Keith's question, "can't you guys help?" She asked poking her head through the door.

"You make it sound like I'm torturing you"

"We've all tried he doesn't listen to us anymore" Keith answered, not acknowledging Lance's statement.

 _Keith stood outside Lance's door, leaning against the frame watching Lance as he wore Nyma's shirt, looking at old photo's, crying his eyes out._  
_"_

_She's not coming back, Lance"_

_That just caused him to cry even more._

"He's right I don't" He said, Pidge went back into the closet to see if she could find something.

"Guys we need to hurry up or we will be late, I'm in the wedding" Hunk said as poked his head through the doorway.

"Why are you worried? You're just an usher" Keith said turning to look at Hunk.

"I would prefer not to mess this up as they are my friends, and considering what happened at the last college gathering." Hunk said irritation in his voice, glaring at Lance and Keith.

"Why weren't we asked to be ushers?" Lance asked turning to Keith, missing Hunk's glare at him.

"Annie and Veronica's baby shower." Keith answered as it gave enough details, which it did. Lance turned back to Hunk looking guilty.

"Yeah, you can't mess this up, but to be fair it was mostly Lotor's fault" Lance said with Keith nodding in agreement. "And Keith's"

"WHAT?" Keith yelled causing Hunk to throw his hands up in defeat.

"GUYS" Pidge interrupts back out of the closet, she put her hands on her hips. "So what do you think? This is the only dress I could find that seemed suitable." She said messing with the hem of the skirt. She was wearing a dark green, knee length dress. It was tucked in at the waist and had a sweetheart neckline. She only wore the dress once to her parent's wedding anniversary two years ago, now seemed like a good time to get some more use out of it. Hunk was the first to speak.

"You look great." he said which caused her to smile.

"Wish you would have found that two hours ago" Keith remarked which caused Pidge to glare at him, she then turned to Lance. Who was staring at her.

"So? Am I good enough to be your fake girlfriend?" She asked bringing Lance out of his daze and causing him to speak.

"You look hot."

Pidge scoffed but that didn't stop the blush forming on her cheeks. She wished he would have stopped talking after that.

"Not that you usually don't look hot, because you do, but you're usually wearing jeans and t-shirt. You look hotter than usual, wait no, more obviously hot-"

"Lance stop while your ahead." Keith interrupted his rambling putting a head on Lance's shoulder.

"Yeah, I should. Let's go" He stood and they all walked out, ready to set off for the wedding.

_I hope I don't mess this up._

* * *

 

They arrived at the hotel less than an hour before and the wedding hadn't started yet. They decided to head out into the garden where the ceremony was being held, but they had to wait to be given their seats. As Keith, Pidge and Lance waited, Hunk went off to do his job as an usher and had a small argument over the title of usher with a 12 year old he didn't even know. They stood by one of the tables where hor d'oeuvres and champagne were being served Lance picked up two flutes and passed one to Pidge. They clinked their glasses together.

"Guys" Keith called out. "Maybe you should start acting like a real couple now"

"This is how I act, How do you expect me to act?" Pidge asked. Placing the now empty champagne flute on the table.

"I don't know, Be nice, all lovey dovey, no snark, no sass and no sarcasm, just be Lance's girlfriend"

"So don't be myself, is what your asking" She said folding her arms across her chest. Lance snorted, holding in a laugh.

"Basically"

"Great life lessons you got there, got anymore?"

"Okay that's what I mean, none of that" Keith looked up and his eyes widened in panic. "Oh fuck. See ya" and he ran off. Pidge turned back to Lance, who was still trying to hold in a laugh, and was failing.

"What was that about?" She said, pointing the direction Keith ran off to, and he ran fast.  
"

Her" Lance said pointing the direction which caused Keith to run off.

"She's pretty, Is Keith too scared to ask her to dance."

"Probably, since if he did he would get punched." he turned back to Pidge and had a smirk on his face. "Which reminds me-" She knew what he was thinking.

"No" She was quick to answer.

"-You owe me a dance later." He said ignoring her refusal.

"I'm not dancing with you. I don't dance"

"why no-Oh no" Lance's smile vanished and was replaced with a panicked look.

"What?" Pidge turned around and saw a woman walking over to them, she had long blonde hair and was wearing a yellow and blue tea dress. _That must be Nyma._  
"Oh no she's coming over" Lance tried to walk away but Pidge stopped him.

"Hi Lance" Nyma greeted.

"Hi Nyma " Lance greeted shyly, wow this girl really has an effect on him, think fast.

"Lancelot, you'll have to introduce me." Pidge said sweetly. She grabbed lance's arm and wrapped it around her shoulder and leaned into him wrapping her arm around his back. Lance was surprised by her sudden change in attitude but did his best to go along with it.

"Yes of course Katie this is Nyma and Nyma this is Katie, my new girlfriend." Lance gestured his hand between them with his arm still wrapped around Pidge. Nyma put out her hand and Pidge shook it.

"Hi it's Nice to meet you Katie."

"You too." _Don't think my hand feels the same._ Pidge took back her hand and rubbed it slightly and then put and Lance's chest and continued talking. "Well I'm Lance's girlfriend, We just started the relationship so we are still in the honeymoon phase. I barely sleep, So much doing it" She let out a fake laugh.

"Oh"

"Who wouldn't want a piece of this ass huh?" She said grabbing his butt while doing so. This surprised both of them.

"Yeah, well I guess I will see you later Lance" Nyma said. Feeling awkward in the conversation and walked away to talk to another guest.

"See you Nyma"

After she left Lance and Pidge quickly separated. Or more like Pidge pushed Lance away.

"What was that?" Lance asked giving her a confused look but he had a smirk on his face. _Oh no_.

"Nothing, Shut up, I panicked" She answered avoiding eye contact.

"You grabbed my ass" He stated his smirk getting wider.

"Forget it,"

"How long have you been wanting to do that?" He was teasing her now.

"Don't you start." She said finally making eye contact, with an irritated look on her face.

"Don't worry, I get it, I have a very nice ass"

"Stop talking about your ass"

"Okay" Lance threw hands up in defeat and started walking backwards "You can deny it to me, but you can't deny it to yourself" He went over to one of the ushers to ask where their seats were. His back was turned to Pidge who was still looking his way.

_He's right he does have a cute butt._

"No, should not be thinking that, don't go there" She picked up another champagne flute and downed it quickly,

"Hey Pidge." Keith said as he approached her, out of breath. "Do you think I lost her?"

"Yes, since it seems you've run thirty miles."

"No just around the building, but to be fair I was tempted to run further."

"Wow, this girl really put a number on you"

"Well let's say it's the other way round"

"What did you do?"

"Nothing" He said in defence and Pidge gave him a look "She's not an ex if you're wondering, her name's Veronica, Me and Lance ruined her baby shower, Lance already got yelled at so it's my turn. It won't be pretty"

"So you just avoid her" Keith nodded "Run away from your problem. Another life lesson from Keith" Lance walked back over to them and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, I know our seats" He put his hand on her back and guided her towards their seats, The wedding was about to start. _  
_

* * *

 

After the wedding the guests went back into the hotel for the reception, Lance and Pidge were sat at the table that they shared with Keith and Hunk. Pidge had met Veronica and had a delightful conversation with her learning what Keith did. He had every reason to run and hide. Hunk and Keith came down to sit at the table.

"Well that was extremely boring" Keith breathed. The hotel was starting to fill up with invitees who came back from the garden. The music was already playing and the dance floor was starting to fill up.

"Shut it, Keith."

"Hunk, why are you being so protective of this wedding" Lance said. "Is it because a child is better than you?"

"I'm the usher Lance" Hunk corrected and pointing towards the direction of the child in question "I will not have him show me up." The child started pointing a laughing at Hunk.

"This kid is really pissing me off" Hunk said as he got up.

"Don't fight with the child Hunk you're better than this " Pidge shouted after him but he was already gone. Keith nodded his head forward, grabbing Lance's shoulder. Veronica was a couple of tables away.

"If Veronica asks tell her something to get her off my back." and he ran off as well.

"Okay" Lance turned back to Pidge. "Keith's engaged"

"What's that going to do-" She looked past Lance and nodded her head, He turned around and saw Nyma "She's looking at us" Pidge wrapped her arms around him and started being affectionate. That caused Nyma to stand up and head towards them.

"Hey when she comes over I want to talk to her by myself" He said, not taking his eyes off Nyma.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"You trust me don't you?"

"From what I know I shouldn't"

"Please Pidge" He begged. Finally turning to face her.

"Fine, don't do anything stupid" She said pointing at him and walked off to find Hunk or Keith. Nyma sat down at the table next to Lance.

"So, Katie is great." Nyma said, her voice strained.

"The best, really smart too. So happy"

"Are you guys serious or?" She trailed off.

"Yeah we are, we live together"

"Oh"

"Different bedrooms but shared bathroom so that's something, But we also live with Hunk and Keith so" And they continued to talk.

* * *

 

Pidge found Keith sitting at a table at the opposite side of the room. She dropped into the chair opposite him.

"Hey" He greeted, giving her a small wave. But she was looking a little further behind him.

"Hi Veronica," Pidge said looking behind Keith who now looked like he had the fear of God in him.

"Hello Katie, Keith"

"Veronica," He said in a strained voice turning around in his chair to face her. "Wonderful to see you"

"You too, considering you've been hiding from me the whole wedding."

"No, I haven't why would I" She put a hand on his shoulder causing him tense up.

"Keith." She said calmly. "I'm not going to yell at you."

"You're not?"

"You're not?" Pidge said just as surprised as Keith. She wasn't going to lie she wanted to see it.

"No, motherhood has changed me I have let my anger go."

"That's great to hear. How Is Emma?" Keith's fear had slowly eased off.

"She's wonderful, Annie and I have our hands full." She looked up and waved at woman across the room "Got to go my wife is calling me over bye."

"See ya"

"Well that went well. You know Lance is going to be pissed that you got it easy" Pidge said taking a sip of her drink. Hunk walked over to them.

"Guys we've got a problem" He said, pointing toward Lance Nyma who were in deep conversation.

"Pidge what did you do?" asked Keith.

"He's fine, They are just talking" she said trying to defend herself.

"No, no, no" Both Keith and Hunk objected at the same time.

"With Nyma he is not fine," Hunk said as he sat down "Two months ago he left me a 10 minute voice mail asking what she meant when she said I'll see you soon'" he said using air quotes.

"She will flirt with him and sink her claws into him until she knows she can have him" Keith added "It's like he's her backup plan."

"Well I didn't know that"

"Do you know what its like to live with someone who listens to Taylor Swift all day and non-stop crying."

"Yeah my brother," Pidge threw her hands up in surrender "Fine I'll fix it" She said getting up and walking back over to Lance and Nyma. She placed her hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Hey" she greeted as she dropped on the chair next to him opposite of where Nyma was sat. She did not look happy about Pidge's sudden arrival. "Hunk was looking for you," She said leaning into him, choosing to ignore how comfortable and natural it felt.

"Why?" He asked confused, but he was not acting like her boyfriend which was not the part of the plan.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe something to do with getting revenge on the alternate usher." He let out a small laugh- so did Nyma but her basically said _'Please leave'_. The feeling was mutual.

"Awesome, but tell him I'm busy right now." He tried to act nonchalant but Pidge could she in his eyes he wanted the same thing. _'Please, go'._

"I'm going to get a drink" Nyma chimed in, quickly getting out of her seat.

"Me too" Lance said getting up but Pidge grabbed his arm trying to stop him. But he just pulled her up with him.

"Lance don't do this" Pidge whispered through clenched teeth, so Nyma couldn't hear. "This isn't the plan"

"No, Pidge relax this is great" He grinned at her. Grabbing her upper arms "We might finally have a chance and it is all because of you"

_Oh no._

He let her go, following his possibly soon to be ex-ex girlfriend.

"Lance" She called after him but he was already out of earshot. She sank back into her chair letting her face fall into her hands. She let out a long groan.

"Pidge what happened?" Hunk demanded as him and Keith walked over. "Where are they?"

"I don't know he wouldn't listen to me."

"This isn't good, we need to follow them." Keith said, already walking after them.

"Time to fix this.." She muttered, getting up to follow Lance and Nyma.

* * *

 After looking for ten minutes they found them entering the photo booth. The three saw Nyma pull Lance into the booth letting the curtain fall behind them.

"This isn't good" Hunk said as they neared the photo booth. "What do we do?"

"Pidge, Interrupt them and act hurt" Keith said.

"But-"

"Just do it" He repeated forcefully, taking her upper arms from behind and pushing her towards the booth despite her protests.

Hopefully this would work.

She breathed in deeply hoping her acting skills would be good enough to stop Lance from making a mistake. She stopped outside the curtain for a second to hear laughter coming from behind it and pulled the curtain aside.

"Finally" She exclaimed, shocking both Lance and Nyma, who was sat on his lap. "I've been looking all over for you"

"Pidge"

"Pidge?" Nyma questioned in confusion but Pidge ignored her.

"Why did you just walk away? To spend time with your Ex?" She said folding her arms in front of her. She hoped this was convincing.

"Nothing happened" Nyma stood up, raising her hands in defence.

"Really?" Pidge said now turning towards Nyma." Last time I checked I'm his girlfriend not you."

"I know, I have a boyfriend as well" _Oh fuck_. This couldn't be good.

"You do?" Asked Lance softly, hurt in his voice, Nyma turned back to face him.

"I didn't bring him because I didn't want to hurt your feelings but now I see you have Katie and I-"

"Yeah he has me, and maybe you shouldn't keep stringing him along"

"What?" Nyma asked, confused. "No I-"

"Just go Nyma" Keith interrupted and waved her off so she walked away. "You were meant to stop this from happening" He yelled at Pidge, her mouth widened in shock. "Why couldn't you do just one thing."

"What? You're blaming me?"

"We didn't want to get him hurt." Hunk added, calmer than Keith was but still upset with her. She couldn't believe this.

"No" Pidge shouted. "You guys do not get to blame this on me, I did my best," She pointed at Keith. "While you were hiding the entire time as you were scared of being shouted at. And you," She was now pointing a Hunk " You were having a petty competition with a child. I admit it is partially my fault but maybe if you guys actually tried to help instead of acting like teenagers we could have prevented this." She took a long breath. "Now I'm going to get a drink to calm myself down" She stormed past them.

* * *

 

Pidge was sat the bar nursing a glass of scotch. She glances behind her to Hunk walking towards over.

"Sorry I yelled at you." She said as he sat down next to her. "I was pissed off"

"You were justified"

"Oh I know that, I was just being the bigger person." She said raising her eyebrows at him.

"Okay, so the competition got a little overboard."

"A little?" He let out a laugh, which caused her to smile.

"Okay a lot, sometimes I get annoyed when people think I can't do things"

"Oh I can relate, spite fuels like half of my life decisions. A few of them at my mother." Hunk let out another laugh as Pidge takes another drink, emptying the glass.

"We were jerks, But I know we're all glad to have you around." He said softly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but they are not going to come out and say it. We may have only known you a few weeks but." He paused. "You fit right in. Because of that we thought you could handle this, but with Lance when it comes to Nyma, all common sense goes out the window." Pidge saw Keith walking over to them.

"Okay guys we have a situation."

* * *

Pidge, Hunk and Keith were stood outside the photo booth where Lance was.  
"Are you okay, buddy." Hunk asked Lance, who just groaned in response. Clearly he's had a drink. Or more.

Keith picked up the photo strips that came out of the machine. He started shuffling through them and showing them to Pidge.

"As you can see from these photo he is experiencing a wide range of emotions, like this one," He pulls it up into the light. "Actually that's his butt"

"Lance's butt has been mentioned way to much today" She said under her breath.

"He just keeps saying Pidge."

"Pidge" Lance yelled. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." He poked his hand through the curtain and started waving it. "The fact is, I was an ass, and I'm sorry."

Pidge nodded and walked into the photo booth and sat down next to him.

"Hey Lance" She greeted.

"Hey Pidge this is my home now" He slurred his words. "There's the kitchen, bathroom, common room." Pidge looked around the booth.

"Very nice" Pidge turned to face Lance. "Hey, She has a boyfriend."

"Yep" He nodded in agreement.

"She shouldn't have been flirting with you all night" She sighed. "You can't be her backup plan, you deserve to be someone's first choice."

"Thanks Katie." he said softly, she liked the way her said her real name. She patted him on the shoulder.

"Okay, So you can either stay in here for the rest of the night, or go out there and dance your face off." She got up and left the booth, Leaving Lance to make his choice.

"Alright" He patted the side of the booth. "I love you photo booth." He got up and left as well.

* * *

 After Lance left the booth he walked into the main reception and sat next to Nyma who was surprised.

"Lance I-" She started but Lance stopped her, he had something to say.

"Look Nyma, I can't do this anymore, I have to let you go." Nyma leaned over and gave him a hug. "Goodbye, good luck and everything." She pulled away.

"Goodbye Lance." She said. He got up and sat next to Pidge, who was sat with Hunk and Keith.

"You okay?" Asked Keith.

"Yeah" He answered looking down at the ground.

"Come on." Pidge said as she hit his thigh. "Get up"

"Why?" He asked confused.

"To dance. Obviously"

"You said you don't dance."

"Not if I had an amazing partner."

She put out her hand for him to grab. Which he did. She pulled him towards the dance floor. They stopped and they got into position for a slow dance. The danced for a few minutes until Pidge spoke up.

"Are you okay?" She asked him softly, Looking up at him. When they stood like this Pidge really could feel the height difference.

"I'm good, Thank you for helping me"

"No problem." They smiled softly at each other, It was nice moment. Until Lance had to ruin it.

"You're not very good at this are you." He teased.

"I could have told you that." And they bickered until Hunk and Keith decided to join them when the music changed. 

It was a fun night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think.  
> Next time: Allura's back, Shiro's back and Coran, Coran the gorgeous man is introduced.


	3. Coran crashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coran, Coran the gorgeous man makes his entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is up earlier than I thought but I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Thank you for the comments and Kudos, and so many hits.  
> Thank you to the wonderful  Engineer104 for being my beta. (Also check out her fics they're really good.)

It was 1am and Pidge, Lance, Hunk and Keith were all stood in the doorway of the loft  staring at the newly vacant apartment across the hall. It turned out that the old lady that lived across the hall, Edith, has passed away and the police knocked on their door to ask them some questions. They stood there in silence until Pidge spoke up.

"For the love of god Keith, put on some pants." Lance and Hunk nodded in agreement. While Pidge and the others had at least some modest clothing on, Keith was just in his underwear, not very modest underwear either.

"Why? it's all covered," he said gesturing to his body.

"I can still see it, we all can see it." Pidge avoided looking in his direction.

"Come on Keith. I might not be wearing underwear but at least I'm wearing pants," Lance said also gesturing to himself. It was taking a lot of Pidge's willpower to not look at his naked chest and dangerously low Pyjama pants. It didn't help that he was standing almost directly behind her either.

"Fine, I’m leaving" Keith said as he walked back to his room.  The rest of the roommates continued to stare at the door.

"Poor Edith, she always gave me homemade chocolate chip cookies," Lance said.

"They were store bought; I saw the packaging in the trash when she took it downstairs," Hunk remarked.

"That old lady lied to me." Utter betrayal was in Lance’s voice.

"Urgh, now we have to have a new neighbour," Pidge whined, throwing her hand back and hitting Lance's chest with it. "New neighbours are just awkward."

"Maybe they will be nice," Hunk added.

"Maybe it will be girl." Pidge could hear the excitement in Lance’s voice and rolled her eyes.

"No you will not date our neighbour. It would be too awkward."

"Really? What if it was a cute guy?"

"No, because unlike you I have some self control."

"Says the girl who spent over 100 dollars on a 90's game console last week," Hunk added. He got her there.

"Fair point, but I wouldn't anyway since I'm kinda seeing someone."

"You are?" both Hunk and Lance asked in shock.

"Yeah, I told you this."

"When?"

"Last week remember? You guys were watching TV and I came in and told you I had a date." The boys just looked confused. "Whatever, I'm going back to bed." Pidge waved them off and walked back into loft and headed towards her room.

"I have no memory of that happening," Hunk said.

"Neither do I." They both shrugged and went back to their rooms.

* * *

 

Keith, Hunk, and Pidge along with Shiro sat at the bar where Lance worked. Lance was currently serving and flirting with a female customer. That was the third one tonight, and Pidge didn't know if she was more disturbed by that or by the fact she was keeping score. She checked her phone again to see if her date, Kenny, had messaged her. He had, multiple times.

 

_ KENNY _

_ [18:26] Be there as soon as I can, traffic is holding me up. _

_ [18:27] I'm not texting and driving by the way. The car is stopped by traffic. _

_ [18:27] I'm a very safe driver. _

 

Pidge smiled at the messages and put the phone back in her bag. She looked up and listened to the conversation that Keith, Hunk, and Shiro were having.

"What's it like having a female roommate?" Shiro asked them.

"Not much different," answered Hunk. "Another person to call us out on our shit, more coffee is made, a lot more. The amount is kind of concerning." All of them turned to look at her and she just shrugged.

"Lance hasn't tried flirting with you?" Shiro asked her. Before she could answer Lance came over.

"Who do you think I am? Don Juan?" Lance said as he walked over to them after finishing serving the female customer.

"No, but I think you might," Shiro said nodding his head in the direction of Lance's previous customer. Pidge let out a snort.

"How's the new job?" asked Lance, directing the topic away from him.

"It's good. Slav is working there." His tone of voice suggested that this was  _ not _ good.

"Oh no," all the boys said in unison which caused Pidge to be confused.

"Who's Slav?" she asked Lance, leaning over the bar to talk to him.

"Slav is the only person to cause Shiro to lose his shit."

"But he lived with  _ you _ ."

"Exactly." Then he processed what she said. "Hey!" 

She just shrugged taking a sip of her drink.

“Alright guys, I’m heading off since I have an early start tomorrow,” Shiro said, standing up and patting Keith’s shoulder as he did so. He walked to the entrance, and when Pidge  glanced over to the door she saw Allura walking in as Shiro left. She was with a man with ginger hair in a light blue suit. And who could ignore his mustache. She waved at them to get their attention, and when it did they walked over to her.

"Allura," she said. Pidge stood up as Allura gave her a quick hug. She turned to face the man that was with Allura.

"Coran, it's great to see you."

"Number Five!" he exclaimed and gave a quick but very tight hug. "Or Katie, Pidge, or Katrina, whatever you go by, it's wonderful to see you as well." Pidge sat back down on her stool and felt something behind her.

"Katrina?" Lance said leaning across the bar to whisper in her ear, making her neck feel hot. She turned to face him.

"Stay in your lane," she said holding a finger up at him in warning. She turned back to face Coran and Allura.

"So Coran, what brings you here to New York?" Pidge asked.

"As much as I would love to answer your question right now Pidge, I'm afraid I have a small bathroom emergency to attend to." He looked to Lance who pointed him towards the bathroom.

"If I were you I would breathe through the mouth," Lance said, and Coran nodded his head in thanks.

Allura sat down next to Pidge, ordering a drink from Lance. He served her the drink with a wink, which Allura did not appreciate. Pidge just rolled her eyes.

"Who is that?" the boys asked in unison, pointing in the direction of the bathroom.

"Coran," Pidge answered. "He's pretty cool, but he always calls me Number Five, for some reason."

"Who is Coran?" asked Keith, looking towards Allura.

"He was my father's business advisor, and he has been there for me my entire life. He is a very good man. He retired as my father's advisor two years ago, and now he spends his time travelling." She smiled as she spoke, showing the fondness she had for him.

"But?" questioned Keith, which surprised Pidge. No one ever questioned her like that. Well except her, but she was her best friend while Keith didn't really know her. Allura was surprised as well but she masked it better than Pidge did.

"But he can sometimes be a little eccentric," answered Allura. Coran came back from the bathroom and sat next to her. He turned to face Pidge.

"So Number Five," he said drumming his hands on the table. "How is everything? I've caught up with Allura so now you. How is your new job? And how is Joe?" Everyone beside Pidge and Coran winced. Pidge just got straight to the point.

"Joe is a cheating bastard, so I broke up with him and now I live with these three." She pointed at her three roommates. She knew how protective Coran could be so she quickly added, "But don't worry, I got back at him." Keith and Hunk let out a laugh while Lance high-fived her. That was a very satisfying day.

"Well I hope he got what he deserved. Knowing you I'm sure he did."

"Would you like a drink Coran?" Lance asked cleaning one of the glasses. 

But Allura answered for him."No we should get going. Pidge, are you ready?"

"Oh shit, I forgot I have a date with Kenny tonight," she sighed and gestured towards Coran. "Why not Coran?" 

Allura turned to face him. "Would you?"

"No, no you go have fun. I wouldn't fit in at one of your model gatherings." 

That caught Lance's attention. "I'll go," Lance blurted, raising his hand so quickly it could cause whiplash. Keith leaned over and batted his hand down, but Lance just raised the other one.

"No, not a chance," Allura responded dryly. "And it is not a model party, it's a business gathering. My father got me the tickets, and it will help me make connections for when I take over the business."

"Put your hand down," Hunk said. He turned to Allura. "Can't you go by yourself?"

"I would but I already have two tickets. It's sort of a waste." She pulled the tickets out of her pockets. "It's at the Arus building. Apparently it's gorgeous." 

That's when Keith spoke up. "Built in 1923 and designed by Edward Kaplan. The inside is meant to be brilliant designs based on the history of his home town." He took a sip of his drink and looked around to see the others staring at him. "What? I'm an architect."

"You should invite Keith," Coran said. "He seems like a suitable guest, considering his desire to see the building."

"No," he answered bluntly.

"Why not?" asked Allura.

"Yeah, Keith, why not? You already have a suit from the wedding," Lance said. To Pidge it looked like Keith was tempted to kill him. Lance just smirked, clearly seeing Keith's temptation in his glare.

Allura stood up and walked over to him, grabbing his hand pulling him off his stool, surprising everyone by dragging him towards the exit.

"No, no, no, I'm not good at this, Allura," he  _ whined _ . Keith never whined. She stopped and turned to face him, still holding his hand.

"Do you own a suit?" she asked in what Pidge knew was her no nonsense voice.

"Yes."

"Do you want to see the Arus building?"

"Yes." His reply was strained, knowing he had lost.

"Then you're coming. Coran do you want me to drop you off at your hotel?" she asked, looking past Keith towards Coran.

"No it's alright. I would actually like to stay here and get to know these young men, and learn about New York from them." He stood up. "However I will walk out with you like a gentleman should." He followed Keith and Allura out.

Pidge received a message on her phone and turned around to face Lance slightly leaning over the counter.

"Kenny is outside so I'm heading off now. Allura and Keith are going to that party and Coran is staying here, so don't do anything stupid." She glared at Lance. "Can I trust you?"

"Hey why aren't you telling off Hunk?" Lance yelled in defence, motioning to the man in question.

"I trust him to act mature."

"Thank you Pidge." Hunk looked honoured, but Lance was just insulted.

“I thought we were friends.”

"Yeah, so I know you could do something stupid. Please Lance I would stay but I have a date with Kenny." She put her hands together pleading. "He is the first guy I've liked since Joe." 

Lance sighed. "Fine, we'll keep Coran company. He seems cool anyway"

"Thank you." She smiled, pulling him into a quick hug. She let go and walked off to the entrance.

"Use protection!" Lance shouted after her.

"Fuck you, McClain!" she shouted back, putting up her middle finger without looking back. She walked out the same place where Keith and Allura left earlier.

"Did you have to do that?" Hunk asked dryly.

"Yes." 

Coran walked back to them and sat in Keith's previous seat next to Hunk.

"So Coran what can I get you?" Lance asked.

"How about a Nunvil?"

Lance had no clue what that was.

* * *

 

This morning when he woke up Keith did not expect to be in the Arus building wearing his best suit while surrounded by wealthy business men and women. He couldn't help feeling uncomfortable being surrounded by high society considering his childhood. Keith was standing in the corner of the room while Allura talked to the other guests. Currently she was talking to a brown-haired woman. Keith had picked up from various conversations around him that her name was Alice and that she was the daughter of Richard Blanchard, who ran an insurance company where many of the attendees were clients. 

He took a sip of his drink and looked up at the architecture of the building, which was the only reason he was here in the first place.  _ And _ he did not want to get on Allura's bad side since he was already partially on Pidge's.

Allura glanced up from her conversation and saw Keith standing alone. She waved goodbye to Alice and walked over to where he was standing.

"Admiring the architecture?" she said as she went to stand beside him. He turned to look at her and nodded."You're my guest you should not be standing in the corner, you should be enjoying yourself."

"I don't really fit in here. My life is not as classy as this, as you can see from my roommates." She let out a soft laugh. "They're a little-" He paused thinking over what he was about to say. "And she is your best friend."

"Yeah, I've known Pidge since we were kids so I get it, but it does not change the fact that I love her so you can't insult her. Or I will get you." 

It was Keith's turn to laugh. "Yeah," he said, his voice softening. "I gathered that from the moment I met you and you called Lance on his bullshit." 

She smiled at the compliment; at least she thought it was a compliment. "What is it with him? Did he not get enough attention as a child?" she asked teasingly.

"No he did, but that's the problem," he answered with a smile on his face. 

A small smile tugged at her lips; she was doing that a lot with him. "You really care about them don't you?" she asked sincerely. He nodded. "Maybe we should go?"

This caught him off guard. "What? But you wanted to come here?"

"No I was expected to be here and you--" she pointed at him "--clearly do not want to be here. So let's go."

"Are you sure 'cause-" 

Allura interrupted him by placing her hand on his arm. "Honestly, I think it's in your best interest, since Annabelle over there--" she nodded her head to the left where an old lady was staring at them. "--has been eyeing you for the past ten minutes."

"Yeah let's go," he said, grabbing her hand like she had done with him before.

* * *

It turned out that Nunvil was a Russian cocktail, also known as Nectar of the Gods, so after a quick Google search Lance found the recipe and made one for him. And boy was it strong. It turned out that, by nature, Coran was a very curious person and found interest in everything. He also shared his travel stories with them, and with the way he spoke about them it was no wonder he was a writer. 

Hunk had left a while ago so it was just Lance and a very tipsy Coran. After listening to Coran talk about his years working with law firms Lance spoke up.

"I actually trained to be a lawyer," Lance said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I dropped out of Law school, so now I work here."

"Working here seems very interesting; I'm sure you meet many interesting people."

"Yeah, I do but the bathroom has rats, so there are some negatives."

"What about your love life?" asked Coran, changing the subject quickly. He was good at that. "Anyone on the horizon for your romantic life"

"No."

"Why not? A handsome, charming man like you? Everyone should be flocking to you."

"They are, but I had a bad breakup a few months back so I'm staying back from that for a little while."

"So nobody you have your eye on?" Coran said, widening his eyes for emphasis. Lance really shouldn't have given him more than one drink, or maybe none at all.

"No there isn't," answered Lance, shuffling slightly under Coran's stare. His shift was almost over so he just started cleaning out glasses to kill time.

"Really? I would've thought from the way you acted that you were interested in Katrina Clare Holt." That's another thing he learned; when drunk, Coran liked to use people's full names. And he was  _ so  _ going to use her middle name to his advantage. But what Coran said gave him a pause.

"Pidge?"

"I could see that you two definitely had chemistry, a whole lot of it too. You certainly admire her."

"Of course, she's amazing. Yeah I've considered it, but she's my roommate. She's not interested."

"When you have chemistry there is only one more thing you need."

"What's that?"

"Timing."

Coran stood up, stretching his arms wide and almost falling over but catching himself on the stool.

"Okay you're cut off," Lance said, and he jumped over the bar. "I'm taking you to the loft." He slung Coran's arm over his shoulder, supporting his weight.

"Where is this loft?"

Coran was going to have a bad hangover tomorrow.

* * *

Pidge opened the door to her apartment with Keith and Allura, who she ran into downstairs. Apparently Allura had gotten a text message from Coran to come over to the loft. And considering she was with Keith at the time she brought him home as well. When she walked in she saw Coran sitting on the couch with a glass of water in his hand that Lance, who was sitting on the table opposite him, had given him.

"Why isn't he at his hotel?" asked Allura sternly. "Why is here?"

"Pidge you were right; I did something stupid," said Lance, standing up and facing her, regret on his face. "I gave him one too many Nunvil." He closed his eyes and cringed, ready for both women to yell at him. Instead they just laughed. He did not expect that. "Why are you laughing? Coran is drunk off his ass because of me."

"Don't worry about it," Pidge said in between laughs. 

Then Coran stood up. "I'm staying in New York," he exclaimed, trying to keep his balance by holding onto the chair arm.

"What?" Allura and Pidge asked, still recovering from laughter. Lance just threw his hands up as if he had heard this before. Multiple times.

"This boy," he pointed towards Lance, "along with the other boys, has shown me the new marvels of this city. I tend to explore it more." He put his hand on Lance's shoulder.

"That's great, I would love to see you more," said Allura. "But where are you going to live?"

" Here." He pointed at the floor with his free hand. He was standing a little better now, as it seemed the water that Lance had given him helped.

"We have no room," Pidge said. She liked the idea of Coran staying in New York, but on her couch? Not so much.

"You can take Keith's room."

"I can hear you," Keith said, speaking for the first time since the start of the conversation. Lance just shrugged.

"No, I meant the building the apartment across the hall is available, so I'm living there." Coran was now pointing in the direction of the apartment, causing them to turn. He turned back to face Lance.

"Remember chemistry," Coran said as he pointed at him. Allura with the help of Keith took him out of the apartment. He wasn't as tipsy as he was before, but he wasn't walking straight. So Allura, who was surprisingly strong, held him up while Keith showed her the way out.

"What was that?" Pidge said pointing in the direction which they just left.

"Nothing." He paused, a smirk appearing on his face. "Clare."

"So he told you that." She let her head fall and sighed. "Well that answers who our new neighbour might be." She walked over to the coat hanger and shrugged her coat off, putting it on its hook.

"Yeah it does," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Was he nervous?

"Goodnight Lance." She patted his arm as she walked past to her bedroom.

"Hey urh Pidge, can I ask you something?" he asked. She turned back and faced him, her ponytail swinging behind her.

"Sure go ahead." 

He opened his mouth to ask, but he paused, taking in her appearance. "That's not your shirt," he said, pointing at her attire. "You weren't wearing that earlier."

"Oh yeah, I urm, kind of misplaced it." He could see from the smile on her face the reason why. "What were you going to ask?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

"Urh, yeah. Did you use protection?" he asked in jest which just caused her to groan and walk into her room.

But for some reason she didn't feel that was the real question he was planning to ask. She shook her head to forget about it. Besides she kind of had a boyfriend now, she shouldn't keep thinking about her roommate.

Her very platonic, flirty, low-riding pyjama pants-wearing, roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time it's Thanksgiving. For them anyway.


	4. Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge's brother is in town but so is an unexpected guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH 700 hits? I love you all.

"Hey guys," Pidge said, carrying bags of shopping through the door, which was weird. She never grocery shopped, since that was Hunk’s job, or he was the only one who cared to do it. The boys who were sat on the couch made no move to help her. They just watched her suffer.

"What you got over there?" Hunk said, nodding his head toward her bags.

"Thanksgiving dinner," she said, simply making her way to the kitchen.

"Thanksgiving was last week. I distinctly remember because of the vomiting I had from whatever Coran made us," Lance said, making a gagging sound.

"I told you not to eat that," Pidge said as she took out her shopping and put it on the counter.

"I was being polite," he said in defence.

"Well, in the future, don't be polite." She continued to unpack her bags. "How the fuck am I supposed to cook this?"

"How did you even find a turkey?" asked Keith.

"I didn't. It's a chicken, as you said it's not Thanksgiving so I can bullshit it." She paused. "Just not so much it causes food poisoning."

"Why are you doing this?" Lance asked, standing up. "What's the point?"

"I don't celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, but my brother is in town so I wanted to do something nice for him."

"Cool, we get to meet your family," Lance said, smiling.

"Just my brother," Pidge corrected.

"Is he as nerdy as you?" Keith said, which caused her to glare at him. "I'm going to take that as a yes." Pidge just ignored his statement.

"He wanted to meet you guys. Don't worry, you guys don't have to do anything, I'll sort it out. Just one question: does anyone know anything about cooking? Like cooking a chicken for example."

"How do you not know how to cook a chicken?" asked Hunk, flabbergasted.

"I only finished grad school 8 months ago, and I literally lived off instant noodles and peanut butter cookies. And anyway Joe did most of the cooking." She bit her lip thinking over how to do this. Math? Easy. Building robots? Piece of cake. Crash Bandicoot 1 hidden level stormy ascent? Platinum relic. Cooking? Not a chance.

"Okay," Hunk said, standing up and walking over to the kitchen. "I'm taking over, otherwise you're going to kill us all. Go." He shooed her out of the kitchen, and she walked over to where Lance stood and Keith still sat on the couch.

"Did you plan this?" asked Lance, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"Nope, but really wish I did." 

* * *

 

Hours later, Keith had been called into work for a small project review while Hunk had asked Lance to get some ice. Pidge suspected that they had some and that Hunk had just wanted to get rid of him while he worked. Pidge knew that Hunk was a good cook, but she was surprised to see how passionate he was about it. She had never seen him like that before, but to be fair how can you show your passion for cooking when your roommates preferred to live off of coffee and takeout?

"Are you sure you don't want some help Hunk?" Pidge said as she walked into the kitchen. "You've done a lot of work already."

"No this is mine and mine alone,” Hunk said, not taking his eyes off his task. “I will not have you mess it up."

"Wow, a whole of faith you have in me there. Why are so good at this?"

"My parents own a restaurant, so I've been surrounded by cooking my entire life. It’s a passion of mine."

"Well, it is certainly one you're good at." She reached to try some food, but Hunk slapped her hand away. She recoiled, quickly rubbing her hand to ease the pain. Hunk was mean when he wanted to be.

"Ow, what did I ever do to you?"

"I'm sorry, but it was necessary ."

"In what wa--" she started, but she heard a knock at the door. She went to answer it.

She opened the door to see her brother standing there.

"Hi Katie," he greeted, leaning down to give her a hug which she reciprocated. 

"Hey Matt, it's great to see you," she said as she left the hug. She directed her hand behind her, welcoming him in. "Come in, welcome to my home." Matt looked around the living room and took in the loft.

"Wow, your new place is great. I hope your roommates are too," he said, looking back at Pidge.

"Thanks, they are, most of the time. That's Hunk," Pidge said pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the kitchen where Hunk was. "If it wasn't for him we would be eating mac and cheese."

"Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Matt," Matt said, waving at Hunk who was still concentrated on the food.

"Nice to meet you too," Hunk said without looking up at him.

"He's usually not that rude; he's just really focused," she said in defence of Hunk.

"I can see that." Matt turned back to face Pidge. "Where are your other roommates?" he asked.

"Oh Keith has work, but he will be back soon, and Lance went to get some ice." As she said that Matt's phone beeped as a text message came through. He checked it quickly before shoving it back in his pocket.

"So Mom just messaged me. She said Dad can't make it, but she will be here in about two hours."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Pidge said with a squeak in her voice.

"Yeah, she just sent me a message. Actually, she said she was surprised that you invited me here--" His face dropped in realisation. "Oh my God you didn't invite her did you?"

"No I did not," she replied, her voice turning sour.

"Why didn't you?" he asked, raising his voice.

"You know Mom and I have a tense relationship. I didn't want her to come here." She raised her voice in return.

"Why not? She would want to meet your roommates." He paused. "You did tell her you have roommates right?" he asked hesitantly. He wouldn't be surprised if she  _ 'forgot' _ to mention that.

"I did," she said defensively, but then her voice faltered. "Just not that they were men."

"You're screwed."

"I know," she said in resignation, rubbing her hand against her forehead. "What am I going to do?"

"Done!" Hunk shouted from the kitchen, looking up to see Matt and Pidge looking at him. "What are we talking about?"

* * *

After Lance and Keith came back and introduced themselves to Matt, she went into her room and made a phone call. Luckily the person would always answer quickly since that's what best friends do.

_ "Hi Pidge, _ " Allura said.

"My mother is coming," Pidge replied quickly.

_ "Pidge you are usually great at pranks but this one is not good." _

"It's not a prank, my mother is coming."

_ "Oh god no. Why is she coming?" _

"Matt accidentally invited her here."

_ "For a smart guy, sometimes your brother can be really stupid." _

"Yeah, he can." Pidge tried to keep her breathing level.

_ "Do you want me to come over?" _ Allura asked, worried about her best friend. She knew better than anyone how tense their relationship was.  _ "You need the support? _ "

"No it's fine, I'll have Matt, but thank you."

_ "Are you sure? I know how your mother can get to you." _

"Allura last time you met my mother I'm sure you were going to getting into a custody battle over me. And you are not motherly."

_ "I'd be better than her." _ They both let out a laugh.  _ "Good luck, call me if you need anything." _

"I will. Thanks Allura."

_ "Bye." _

"Bye."

After Allura hung up the phone, Pidge walked back into the main room to see Lance, Hunk, and Keith sat on the couch.

"Okay, so my mother is going to be here soon. She is downstairs, and Matt is stalling her, and I need you guys to go," she said pacing around the room as the boys just looked at her.

"Why?" asked Keith. She opened her mouth to answer, but Hunk answered for her.

"She didn't tell her mother that she lived with three guys."

"What the fuck Pi-" Pidge reached down to cover Lance's mouth with her hand.

"Don't you question me." She slowly removed her hand from his mouth. "Okay, you guys have to leave now." As soon as she said that she heard a knock at the door, causing her and the others to freeze.

"Hey, Katie it's Matt. Mom is here!" Matt shouted through the door to warn her. In panic she grabbed Keith and Lance by the arms, pulling them off the couch, and dragged them to her bedroom while Hunk followed.  She pushed them through the door, let Hunk in, and slammed the door behind her. Keith rubbed their arms where Pidge grabbed them.

"How does such a tiny person have such a strong grip?" Keith said. Lance nodded in agreement.

"She has a lot of anger that she can't store it in her tiny body. But there are other ways to relieve that." Lance winked at her which caused her to groan.

"Jar," Hunk and Keith said in unison while Pidge shook her head at him holding in a slight smile. Even at the most inappropriate times, he knew how to make her smile.

"How do you hate your mother so much?" Lance asked, his tone turning serious.

"Not all of us grew up with a supportive mother like you. I'm going to presume that your mother is the most wonderful woman in the world, yes?" Lance just nodded in agreement. "Well, my mother is the most controlling, condescending, manipulative person I have ever met."

"Not sugar coating it?"

"Oh trust me, I am. You guys are going to stay in here."

"But my meal," Hunk whined. "I spent hours on that."

"I'm sorry Hunk, but either you stay in here or face my mother's wrath."

"That is not a good plan," Lance interrupted.

"It's something, okay, I didn't tell my mother I live with you three so I improvised."

"You're panicking." He placed his hands on her shoulders to try and calm her down. It was working. He could always do that. She let out a long breath.

"Okay, so you're staying in here," she said quickly and walked out the door.

They looked around to find something to do.

"Holy shit, this room is a fucking mess," Lance said, and Hunk and Keith nodded their heads in agreement.

* * *

After she shut her bedroom door she ran to open the front door. She opened it to find Matt and her mother standing there with a displeased look on her face. Which was her usual face when talking to her daughter. Pidge just gave her a forced smile.

"Katrina, glad to see you finally answered the door,” said her mother. "It's rude to leave someone waiting." Her mother walked past her to look around the apartment.

"Great to see you too mom." She turned to face Matt and gave him a small punch in the arm. "You were meant to stall her," she whispered so her mother couldn't hear.

"I tried," he said in defence, rubbing his arm slightly. "You know her."

"Well, you could learn to be more stubborn like me."

"Oh wonder where you got that from," Matt said, nodding his head in their mother's direction, which caused Pidge to glare at him.

"Your place is certainly spacious," her mom said, interrupting her staring match with Matt. "Where are your roommates?" Pidge could hear the turn in her voice at the word 'roommates'. In her mother's opinion roommates were only for college students, or people who were too lazy to live on their own. "I would like to know the people who are sharing a living space with my daughter."

"Unfortunately they are all working so you won't be able to meet them today," Pidge said, clasping her hands together while Matt stood next to her awkwardly. Pidge knew that when she and her mother got like this it was awkward for everyone around them. However, Matt always seemed to suffer the most.

"Let's eat," Matt exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and trying to diffuse the tension. She walked, quickly, to the dining table and sat down. "Wow, this food looks great Katie." Pidge sat down next to him.

"Yes, it does. Well done," her mother said to her as she sat down across from where her children sat.

"Thanks mom." _That's one of the few compliments you have given me and it isn't even mine to_ _have._

Besides Matt's few attempts to lighten the mood, Pidge and her mother ate in silence.

* * *

Ever since Pidge told her that Colleen was in town and visiting, Allura had been worried. She was tempted to quit this modeling job and check on her best friend, but Allura knew that Pidge would get annoyed if she did.

When it was her break Allura tried to call Pidge, but she didn't pick up, meaning that her mother must be there. So she called the next person she could think of.

_ "Hello?" _ she heard him answer.

"Keith, thank goodness. Are you with Pidge right now?"

_ "Allura? No, I'm not." _

" _ Why does Allura have your number? _ " she heard Lance ask through the phone, but she presumed Keith ignored him as he didn't respond to him.  _ Why were they whispering? _

"Why are you whispering?"

_ "Well her mother arrived, so she panicked and locked us in her bedroom. So we’re trying to keep quiet." _

"What?" she shouted, causing her co-workers to look at her. She lowered her voice. "Put me on speaker. Are all of you in her room?"

" _ Yes, _ " they all answered in unison.

"This is not good," Allura said, rubbing her forehead. "If Colleen finds out Pidge lied to her, it will not be pretty."

" _ What is it with Pidge and her mother? _ " asked Lance, who Allura noted certainly sounded the most interested in Pidge's life. She ignored it for the time being; Lance was just probably a curious person.

"They don't get along. It wasn't always like that. Colleen actually used to be a really relaxed parent and let her do what she wanted, but then that changed."

_ "What happened? _ " Hunk asked.

"It's not my place to tell you that, but after it, Colleen started acting all controlling. She wanted Pidge to settle down, have kids, and not pursue science, which you can see she failed at. As the years went on their relationship became more distant and tense."

" _ Yikes. _ "

"Yikes indeed. Colleen may not be the perfect mother, and I do strongly dislike her, but she loves Pidge. That will never change. I don't even think she realises what she is doing."

_ "That's my room, _ " Allura could hear Pidge shouting through the phone.

" _ Guys, in the closet now _ ," Keith said to his roommates.

"It's like you read my mind." She could hear them scrambling through the phone, and after she knew they were in the closet, she hung up the phone.

Screw it. She was going over there.

* * *

 

"You don't want to go in there. My room is a mess," Pidge said, guarding her bedroom door with a tight grip on the handle.  _ Also, my three male roommates are hiding from you _ .

She looked over at Matt for support, but he said nothing.

"Not much different than usual. Now move." Pidge reluctantly pushed the door open and let her mother and Matt into her room. The boys were nowhere in sight, but the walk-in closet door was closed. She sighed in relief, which she hoped went unnoticed by her mother. She took a moment to look at her bedroom, and she realised what was off.  _ Did they tidy my room? Probably Hunk. _

"Well, it seems it isn't as much a mess as usual." She could see that her mother knew something was off.

"It must have slipped my mind that I tidied." She gave her mother a forced smile. If she did that anymore today her face was going to get stuck.  "Ready to look around more?" Pidge asked. Her mother nodded and started to walk out.

But then they heard a crash from inside her closet.

"What was that?" her mother said, turning back to face the closet.

"Nothing," Pidge said quickly, “just something falling, nothing to worry about." Despite Pidge's protests, Colleen walked over to the closet and opened the door to find three men squashed in.

"I'm gonna go," Matt said quickly, dashing out of the room. So much help he was.

"Katrina, why are there three men hidden in your closet?" Colleen asked, turning to face Pidge, who was frozen in place.

"It's cozy," she said.

"Don't sass me."

"They're my roommates." She sighed. "These guys are my roommates." She refused to shrink under her mother's stare.

"I do not know you three, but I think it is in your best interest to leave my daughter and I to talk," he said, still looking at Pidge. As soon as she spoke, the boys stumbled out of the closet and quickly left Pidge's room, shutting the door behind them.

"Explain now," her mother demanded.

"Fine. I lied to you about my roommates since I knew that having three male roommates would bother you."

"You're right, it does. But it bothers me more that you lied about it. Are you sleeping with them? Is that why you didn't tell me?"

"No, God no," Pidge said, disgusted. "I knew you were going to say something like that. That's why I didn't tell you." Pidge ran her hands through her hair. "You seem to believe that you have a right to control aspects of my life. Why?" Pidge said, shaking her head, voice faltering.

"I'm only trying to look out for you. That's what I've always done." Her mother's voice remained even.

"So you just coming off as condescending and controlling is a side effect?"

"I never meant to do that."

"Really?" Pidge said, her voice rising. "Well you do. It happened when I chose to go to MIT, and it happened when I broke up with Joe."

"I'm sorry." 

Pidge just scoffed. "The only reason you're apologizing is because I called you out on it."

"No Katie, I am sorry," said her mother softly. She sat down on Pidge's bed. "I didn't realise I made you feel that way."

"How? What did you think you were doing? You don’t treat Matt that way."

"I know I don’t since you are the youngest. I was trying to protect you, and I couldn't let what happened to your father happen to you."

"You weren't protecting me; you were suffocating me," Pidge said, her voice quiet. She sat down next to her mother.

"I didn't want to lose you. I thought if I could get you settled down or away from science you would stay. Due to your father's job, he got seriously injured and if the same happened to you or worse I couldn't live with myself."

"I get that, I was scared too. It's why I became a teacher and didn't take the Olkarion job. But that doesn't mean you could treat me like that."

"I know, and from now on I will do my best to stay out of your life."

"You don't have to stay out of it. just don't try and control it," Pidge said, looking down and kicking the carpet. Colleen put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, causing her to look up.

"I will do my best to make it up to you starting now. it will take a while, but we will get there."

"Thanks, Mom," Pidge said with a smile on her face. A genuine one.

"I am a very lucky woman to have a daughter as brilliant as you."

"Mom I--" Pidge paused when she heard shuffling outside her room. "One second." She got up and walked over to the door, leaning on the frame. She gave it a swift kick with the side of her leg, which caused the eavesdroppers - her roommates and brother - to yell in pain.

"Ow Pidge what the hell?" she heard Lance say.

"Fuck off, guys."

"You didn't need to do that," Matt whined.

"Go away, or next time I hit somewhere more private and a lot more painful." She heard the boys scurry away when she said that. She turned to her mother and just shrugged.

"So they are your roommates," she said, pointing to the door.

"Yeah, they are."

"They are certainly full of character."

"They aren't always like that." She mulled that over. "Well they can be, but they are great guys."

"Are you happy here?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Then I guess that is good enough for me. It's time to meet them." Her mother stood up and walked to the door. "I just hope they don't have a habit of hiding in your closet." Pidge let out a laugh and opened the door for her mother. It was time to introduce her roommates.

* * *

After they left her bedroom, Pidge introduced her mother to her roommates. In Pidge's opinion, it seemed that her mother liked Hunk the best due to finding out he cooked the food.

"I think it's time we got going," Colleen said, pointing to her watch.

"I'll see you out," Pidge said, showing her family to the door. She opened it and her mother gave her a hug and walked over to the elevator. Matt stood in the doorway and turned back to face Pidge.

"What's up?" asked Pidge.

"He's kind of cute," Matt said, leaning down to talk to her so their mother couldn't hear.

"Who? Lance? No, not interested."

"Then how did you know who I was talking about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.  _ That son of a bitch _ .

"Bye Matt," Pidge said, quickly shutting the door in his face. She turned around to see her roommates sat on the couch.

"Well that went well," Hunk said from the couch.

"For you it did," Lance exclaimed. "You had your cooking going for you. Me and Keith had nothing."

"Don't bring me into this," Keith said.

"For me it did. That was the best outcome of a conversation me and my mother have had in a long time," Pidge said as she walked over and dropped herself on the couch between Hunk and Lance. She let her head fall onto the back of the couch. "It’ll take a while, but we'll fix it. Next time I see her is at Christmas."

"Which is like a month away," Lance said, causing her to groan "We’re here if you want to talk about it. Allura told us about your relationship and how distant it was."

"When did she tell you that?" she asked, lifting herself off the back of the couch.

"Allura called me earlier to check up on you," Keith said, "and we kind of forced it out of her. Not all of it. She didn't explain why you two became distant."

"Why does Allura have your number?" Before he could respond the front door opened.

"Pidge, are you alright?" Allura said as he came through the door. She walked over to stand in front of the couch. Pidge stood, and Allura gave her a hug. A tight hug.

"I'm fine Allura," she said. "Struggling to breathe, but fine." Allura let her go.

"Sorry. What happened with your mother?"

"It's fine. We talked. She said she would stop being overbearing and I would talk to her more."

"Oh good. That's a long time coming. Does that mean you told her about Kenny?"

"Oh fuck."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time Hunk wants a pet, and Lance tries to help Pidge with a problem.  
> So I think this fic will have around 20-25 chapters. Hope you're ready for a slow burn.


	5. Teachers.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Keith try to find the perfect pet while Lance thinks he can fix on of Pidge's problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> over 50 Kudos? Thank you so much.

"Hey guys, can I talk to you about this lesson I've planned to see if it makes sense?" she said as she walked into the main room holding her laptop on one arm. Lance, Hunk, and Keith were sat on the couch watching TV.

"Yeah."

"Sure." 

"Go ahead." 

The boys all turned towards her.

"So basically, due to the water molecules being polar, other substances that are polar--"

"And we are leaving." The boys got up and walked to their rooms. She threw her free hand up in defeat. And then Hunk walked back in. He sat back down while Pidge looked confused.

"Continue, I'm good at this stuff." He gestured for her to continue.

"Okay then. So the--" She was interrupted by a sound at the door. She turned to face Hunk, who was just as confused as her. 

"Is that scratching?" Hunk got up and opened the door, only to be pounced on by something that started to lick his face.

"Woah, Woah, Woah," Hunk said as Pidge got a better look at the culprit. It was a large brown and black German shepherd on its hind legs licking Hunk's face with paws on his chest.

"Down Buster. Sorry about that, he was just excited to meet you," Coran said as he grabbed the dog, Buster, by his leash, pulling him away from Hunk. "And now it seems you are acquainted."

"Yeah, we are," Hunk said, wiping Buster's saliva off his face. "I'm gonna get a towel." Hunk walked over to the kitchen.

Pidge covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. 

"What's going on out here?" Lance said, coming out of his bedroom. 

"Hunk got a lot of kisses," Coran said. "From this big boy here."

"You got a dog," Lance said, walking over to stroke him. Buster started licking his hand. "And he is very friendly."

"Indeed he is. His name is Buster and he loves people."

Pidge also walked over to buster, kneeling down so she was level with him. 

"He's adorable." She ruffled Buster's fur at the side of his neck, which caused him to playfully push her face with his snout. Pidge started to laugh.

"Yeah," Lance said softly. Pidge looked up to see Lance looking down at her, smiling.

"What?" she asked, still ruffling the dog's fur.

"Nothing," Lance said, shaking his head. Pidge wasn't sure if it was nothing.

"Urm, what made you decide to get a pet?" Pidge asked, standing up to face Coran.

"I thought we weren't allowed pets," Hunk said, walking back over to them.

"Yeah, so did I," Lance said, confusion on his face.

"Well, you are mistaken. Pets are welcome in this building as long as they are not too disruptive and are legal to be kept as pets," Coran said. "Well, I think it's time to get going. This boy needs his supper. Come on, Buster." Coran tugged the dog by his leash, which caused Buster to run across the hall to Coran's apartment dragging Coran behind him. 

"Bye Coran," Hunk, Lance, and Pidge said, with Lance shutting the front door.

"You know what this means, right?" Hunk said, excitement in his voice.

"What?" Lance and Pidge said in unison.

"We're getting a pet." Hunk dashed off to his room but not before opening Keith's door and telling him the good news.

* * *

 

Lance was working at the bar while Pidge was sat in one of the booths with Kenny. Even though he would deny it, Lance kept glancing over to the booth, and every time he saw Pidge laughing with her boyfriend.  _ What was so funny anyway? Why do I even care? _

"Is that your ex-girlfriend or something?" he heard a voice, interrupting his thoughts. He turned to see a woman - a very pretty woman - sat at the bar looking at him expectantly.

"What? No. She's my friend and my roommate. What makes you think that?" Lance asked.

"The fact that you look at her every other minute." 

"That means you've been spending your time looking at me," Lance said, winking at her.

"Yes, I've tried to get your attention so I can order a drink."

Lance scratched behind his ear in embarrassment. "Oh, sure, what can I get you?"

As Lance got the woman her drink, Hunk and Keith walked through the door, still having the same conversation they’d been having for the past two days. 

"I want a dog. I've always loved dogs," Hunk said as they sat down at the bar.

"We all have jobs, and dogs take up a lot of space," Keith said.

"True, but Coran has a dog," Lance said, entering the conversation and bringing his roommates their usual drinks.

"There are four of us."

"What's your problem with dogs, Keith?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah, Keith, what's your problem with dogs?" Lance asked in his  _ this is gonna be fun _ voice. Keith scowled at him. "Nothing," he answered bluntly as he took a sip of his drink.

"It sounds like something."

"Don't do this, Lance."

"What am I--" 

"Hey, guys." Lance looked to see Allura standing behind Keith and Hunk. 

"Hey," they all greeted her as she sat down next to Keith.

"Where's Pidge?" asked Allura.

"Over there with Kenny." Lance nodded his head in their direction.  When Lance looked over he saw the couple getting out of the booth. Kenny gave Pidge a quick kiss goodbye and Pidge walked over to the group.

"Hey, what's going on?" Pidge asked as she sat down.

"The same conversation that's been going on for the past two days," Lance said to her.

"Oh, the pet thing." 

"What pet thing?" Allura asked, confused.

"Since Coran got a dog, and we found out we could have pets, we want one. We just can't decide on what," Keith answered. "Except not a dog."

"How about mice? They are good pets," Allura said. The boys looked at her, confused. "I have four mice, and while the tank is big they don't take up too much space."

"They are so cute," Pidge said.

"I stand my decision," said Lance with his arms folded across his chest. The other roommates just groaned.

"Fish are boring," Hunk whined.

"It's not a fish; it's a shark."

"A shark is a fish," Pidge corrected him, causing him to glare at her, but she ignored it. "Anyway pet sharks require huge tanks and a lot of care and some can grow to be a foot long."

"Well, I want a shark." 

"Okay, tomorrow you guys are going to see if you can find a pet you all like!" Pidge yelled, throwing her hands up before another debate could start. "Now let's change the subject."

"Okay then, how was work?" Allura asked.

Pidge groaned Clearly it was not the best subject change. "I started my job three months ago, and I'm pretty sure all my co-workers hate me." She paused. "Besides Kenny." 

"Yeah, well you are sleeping with him, so he can't hate you," Hunk said. Pidge glared at him. 

"From the sounds from your bedroom, he certainly does not," Lance muttered, but she heard him and slapped his arm. "Ow, we share a hallway."

"Jar," Keith said. Well, that’s another five bucks Lance owed.

"The head teacher Iverson is the only other person I know, and he's an asshole." Pidge sighed and let her head fall on the table.

"Oh god, I hated him," Lance breathed out.

"And he hated you," Hunk added, taking a sip of his drink.

"You guys went to the Garrison?" She pulled her head up to face Hunk.

"I did. Lance went to a different school, but he had a car so he picked me up."

"So how did Iverson hate him?" Allura asked.

"It's Lance," Keith said bluntly.

"Hey!" Lance exclaimed in offense.

"He would always park in front of the steps," Hunk continued, "which was against the rules, so Iverson yelled at him and called his parents."

"That's it?"

"No, Lance decided to get back at him."

"What did you do?" Pidge asked, turning towards him.

"He pulled the upside down trick in his office."

Pidge started to laugh. "Oh my god you nailed his furniture to the ceiling?" she said in between laughs with her hand covering her mouth.

"No one knows who did it," Lance said innocently.

"He clearly knew it was you," Keith said.

"He can't prove anything," Lance said smugly, "and he never will."

"They are your co-workers. You should try to get along with them," Allura said to her best friend.

"No, I don't need to."

"How about this? I'll sort it for you," Lance said, leaning on the bar, his face across from hers. 

"No, you will not."

"Come on, Pidge."

"Promise me you will not try and sort this out."

"I promise." 

"Okay," she said with doubt in her voice. She turned to face Allura. "Allura, ready to go?" Pidge asked. Allura nodded getting her bag and walking out the bar with Pidge.

"Guys, I'm gonna have to cancel on going to get a pet with you guys," Lance said after the girls had gone. 

It was no surprise to his friends. "You're an idiot," Hunk and Keith said at the same time.

"Yes, I am," he said with a grin.

"Hey, bartender!" the woman from earlier yelled, catching Lance's attention once again. "What do I owe you?" she asked while hunting through her purse.

"$4.50," Lance said, looking down. "And how about your number?" When he looked back up he saw that she was already holding a strip of paper with her number on it. She passed him the change for the drink, the slip of paper still between her fingers.

"I might as well." And she gave it to him.

* * *

Pidge was in the teacher’s lounge during her free period, looking over next period's lesson plan.  She was sat in one of the chairs in the corner while the other teachers on their free period sat on the couch and armchairs surrounding the coffee table chatting about somebody's new hot tub. Even though she was a teacher now, high school wasn't any different; there was a group of popular people and then there was everyone else. 

"Hey, teachers." She knew that voice. She looked up to see her roommate standing there, n all his pretty faced, goofball glory. "How's it going?"

"Lance." Pidge quickly scrambled out of her seat and walked over to him, standing in front of him to stop him from talking to her co-workers. It didn't work considering he was more than a head taller than her. Sometimes that really pissed her off.

"Who wants free school supplies?" he asked, making her notice the notebooks in his hand. 

She pinched his arm, and he looked down at her. "Lance, what are you doing here?" she whispered at him through clenched teeth.

"I'm trying to help you."

"How?"

"I'm good at this stuff."

"No, I did not ask you to do this. Don't you--" They were interrupted when one of the teachers, Moira, snatched the notebooks out of Lance's hand. Pidge, surprised, looked at the teachers.

"Hey, if you guys want to come out tonight you can come to my bar,” Lance said. “Free drinks for teachers."

"We’ll think about it," said the male teacher, Mike, as they walked out of the office.

"It worked. I can't believe it worked," Pidge said, turning back to Lance.

"Hey, don't act so surprised." They high-fived and stood there awkwardly for a second. They only just realised how close they were standing.

"I'm gonna go," Lance said, pointing his thumbs towards the door as he walked towards it.

"Yeah, I have work to do so," she commented as he walked out the door. She let out a breath and walked over to where she sat before.

* * *

Later that day Pidge was sat with her co-workers in one of the booths at the bar. She tried to make conversation with them, but it wasn't going very well.

"You want some drinks?" Pidge asked, breaking the awkward silence. They all said yes, and she got out of the booth and walked over to where Lance was working.

"I hate you for doing this to me," Pidge said as she sat down in front of him. He gave her a scotch, and she downed it quickly without even flinching. Lance wasn't going to lie that he found that impressive. And kind of attractive, which he would deny.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise you would be so bad at this," Lance said, exasperated. "You said they hated you."

"I don't care what people think of me."

"How?"

"Okay, maybe a little, but it's work. Who gets along with their co-workers?"

"I do, but I realise what's happening now. It's high school, and they’re the popular kids and you're the nerd."

"What makes you think I'm the nerd?" she said. Lance just raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, like you were so cool." 

"Yes, I was," Lance said defensively.

"Really?" Pidge teased. "How?"

"You know what? I'm not explaining my coolness to a nerd." 

"I don't need your help," Pidge said as she took the three drinks that he made for her co-workers and walked over to the table.  But after another short, awkward silence, Pidge returned to Lance. She sat down on the stool and sighed.

"I can't believe I'm asking you this but..." She sucked in a painful breath. "Pleasehelpmecool."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" 

Pidge knew that he heard her from the smile he was holding back. "Help me be cool. Happy?"

"So much," Lance said, allowing his grin to widen. "Listen to me if you want to be in with them: just go with the flow. Make fun of your boss a little bit. Follow my lead, and by follow my lead--" He poured himself, and Pidge, drinks and downed his, licking his lips afterwards, which Pidge found attractive but would deny it till her dying days. "--I mean drink, a lot," he said, his voice still raspy from the drink.

"Drinking to be cool? That's not a thing."

"That's the only thing in the world I know to be true." 

So she drank.

* * *

 

Allura knocked on the front door of her best friend’s apartment, holding a box between her hip and arm. She hoped someone was home, or this would be a waste.

"Come in!" she heard Hunk yell from inside. She opened the door.

The boys were all standing in front of the couch, staring at a figure lying on it. From the shoes, she could tell it was Pidge. And was proven right that Pidge had 'borrowed' them. 

"What’s going on?" Allura asked, causing the boys to turn to her. "Why is my best friend passed out on the couch?" 

Hunk and Keith just pointed to Lance. "It was his fault," they said as Allura walked over to them to stand next to Keith.

"I was trying to help,” said Lance. “She wanted help with her co-workers, so I helped."

"And that option was to kill her?" Hunk asked.

"No, I didn't kill Pidge," Lance said in defence. "She just got really drunk and passed out."

"Oh no," Allura said. She turned from looking at her friend and looked at Lance. "Did she start singing in Italian?"

"I didn't know what language it was, but yes." 

"So she was very drunk then. It’s very unusual since she can't speak Italian when she's sober."

"Okay guys," Keith said, causing the others turn to him. "Remember that time that I was so hungover I almost missed my final exam?" Lance and Hunk nodded, but Allura looked at him, confused.

"Count it down," Hunk said. Allura watched as the three roommates climbed on top of the table and started to sing and clap. She did not expect that.

"I BELIEVE I CAN FLY, I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY!"

"Oh my God, stop it," Pidge said, her voice still groggy, but they continued to sing. "No, no, no, I hate all of you."

"I THINK ABOUT IT EVERY NIGHT AND DAY!"

"I'm awake. please stop singing." She pushed herself off the couch as much as she could. The boys got off the table, and Lance and Hunk pulled her up. "That was very beautiful, but never do that again." She stumbled but Lance held her up.

"Help her to the bathroom," Allura said. "She is not very good with directions when she is hungover." 

"I'll do it," Lance said as he held her up by her waist, walking her over to the bathroom.

"Hunk," Allura said. "Will you pop over to Coran and ask him for his hangover cure. It works, trust me."

"I'll get right on that," Hunk said as he walked out the door.

"What's with the box?" Keith said, nodding to the box she was holding.

"Oh, it's a few books on pet ownership and different pets. I had them from before I got the mice, so I thought it would help you guys."

"Thanks," Keith said taking the box from her and putting it on the table. 

Meanwhile, Coran burst through the door and walked over to the kitchen, with Hunk following him. "Okay, don't worry. I've got this," Coran said. "I'll need tomatoes, cucumber, celery..." Coran continued to list ingredients while hunting through the cupboards, but Hunk stopped him.

"No, I have a system. Let me find it," Hunk said and started carefully looking through the cupboards. 

Lance walked back into the living room with Keith and Allura giving him a dirty look.

"I'll fix it," Lance said, holding his hands up.

* * *

Later that day, Lance was on the couch as Pidge burst through the door and ran over to the kitchen. Confused, Lance got up and walked over to see her looking through the cupboards. Lance leaned on the counter, Pidge not noticing him until he spoke up.

"You know, Hunk is going to be pissed you messed with his system," Lance said, startling her, but she continued to look.

"So what? I'll just blame Keith." Unable to find what she was looking for, she sighed and stood up to face him. "Do you know where any nails are?"

"Pidge, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," she said, taking the duct tape out of the drawer. "Just a prank." She shut the drawer and walked over to the fridge.

"This isn't a good idea."

"Oh my god, Lance. You said roll with it, and that's what I'm doing."

"You said you didn't care what they thought."

"Well, I lied." She slammed the fridge door and walked over to stand in front of him. "It's like you said. I was a huge nerd. You guys wouldn't have noticed me or hung out with me in high school, except maybe Keith since he's a loner and emo, but's that's not the point."

"That's just because I skipped class a lot. I wouldn't have seen you." 

"I didn't fit in at high school, Lance," Pidge said, her voice wavering. "There were the popular kids, there was everyone else, and then there was me. The only friend I had was Allura, but she went to a different high school, so most of my days were spent in a lab, building a robot called Rover which was probably the only one I talked to."

"Pidge I--" Lance started but she continued.

"I always used to think 'what would I be like if I was popular?' I know it's ridiculous, but I did. And even though it's ten years later, I'm gonna find out." She pushed past him and walked out the front door. 

"Goddammit, she's so stubborn," Lance muttered as he walked out the door and followed her

* * *

As it turned out, it wasn't a simple prank, and in fact, they were breaking into the deputy headmaster Mr. Walker's back garden to try out his new hot tub. (So that's whose it was.) She thought that they would pull a small prank on Iverson, but no, they were doing this. She may have been a little tipsy and might have agreed to be the first one to go over the fence. 

The other teachers called out to her from the other side of the fence, checking if she was okay from the fall she just had. But it was another person's voice that caught her attention. 

"Pidge, don't move. I'm coming over," Lance said as he popped his head over the fence. "Hey, Alice, the boost is helpful, but you nearly grabbing my crotch is not."

"Did you follow me here?" she whispered loud enough that he could hear her. She pushed herself up so she was sitting just as Lance jumped over the fence and fell right next to her. 

"Hey, Pidge, you okay?" Lance asked, pushing himself up so he was in the same position as her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

"Look, I'm sorry that I tried to stick my nose into this. I came here because I just...I--" He breathed in, trying to find the right words. "Pidge, you should know by now that if you're going to do something so incredibly stupid--" She let her head fall and groaned at that. "Then I'm going to do it with you." 

She looked up at him and smiled, but looked behind her when a light turned on. Lance quickly pushed Pidge into the bushes and tried to follow after her, but he was caught.

"What is going on out here?" Walker said as he came out of his house. "Who are you?" he asked Lance.

"Urm you don't know me, but I used to live here," Lance said, causing Pidge to cringe. He was a bad liar. "I actually used to live in that room there." He pointed to a random window.

"The bathroom?" Walker asked.

"To you, it's a bathroom, To me and my brothers it's a home." 

Pidge couldn't take this anymore. "Lance, I can't let you do this," Pidge said as she stood in the bushes. "Mainly because you're so bad at it." Lance just nodded in agreement.

"Is that you, Miss Holt?" asked Walker, looking over at his employee. 

"Yes, it is. It's hard to explain, but I'm sorry. We're trespassing." She looked down to avoid eye contact. "I would not be surprised if you fired me." She looked back up, but her boss was staring quizzically at them.

"I know what's really going on here," he said, confusing the both of them. "You heard about my new hot tub" He pressed a remote and music started to play. "And you wanted a taste." He dropped his robe, revealing his speedo and getting into the hot tub. "Come on in kids. The water's hot." 

Lance and Pidge looked at each other. "I guess we're doing this," Lance said, pulling his shirt over his head while Pidge watched, biting her lip as she saw his naked torso. 

"Apparently," she said, quickly smiling at him when he looked down at her so he wouldn’t notice her staring. 

He passed her his shirt, confusing her. "I'm guessing you want something to cover yourself." 

He made a fair point. 

* * *

Keith and Hunk, along with Coran who came over to help, were sat on the couch looking through the books that Allura had brought over earlier that day. And they had been doing that for nearly an hour now. No decision had been made.

"Urgh, why are we still doing this?" Keith groaned, throwing his head on the back of the couch. "It’s taken days, and we still haven’t chosen."

"That's your fault since you keep saying no to everything." Hunk sighed. 

"Because every suggestion you’ve given is a dog."

“Seriously, what is your problem with dogs?”

"Don't give up hope, lads. You'll soon find the perfect pet," Coran said cheerfully. He opened one of the books to a random page. "How about an axolotl?"

"What the fuck is that?" Keith asked. 

The front door opened and the group looked up to see Lance and Pidge standing in the doorway. 

"Lance, why are you shirtless?" Keith asked taking in their appearance, while Hunk asked, "Pidge, why are you wearing Lance's shirt?"

"Don't want to talk about it," Lance and Pidge said, walking into their bedrooms and slamming the doors behind them.

"Is it time to pay up?" Hunk said, leaning closer to Keith.

"Not yet," Keith said, turning one of the pages of the book. "Found it. Give me two days." He shut the book quickly and walked to his room. Hunk and Coran were left confused.

* * *

Pidge was walking through the corridor of the school when she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Kenny standing in front of her. 

"Hey," she greeted. "What's up?"

"I heard a rumour about a hot tub and the deputy head?" he asked teasingly.  

"Ahh that," she said, laughing awkwardly. "I'm not talking about that."

"You want to do something later?"  

She opened her mouth to answer, but she heard her name being called. "Katie." Pidge and Kenny turned to see the teachers from last night walking over to her. "Thanks for covering for us last night," said Moira.

"I'd say no problem, but that would be a lie."

"How long were you stuck in that hot tub for?" asked Kenny.

"I just told you I'm not talking about that." 

"Okay," said Kenny. "See you later." Kenny walked down the corridor and Pidge turned to her co-workers.

"What are you doing tonight?" asked Alice. "Because we were planning to go out if you want to come with."

"Actually I have plans."

* * *

Lance was sat on the couch watching TV when the door opened. He looked over to see Pidge standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing back so early?" Lance asked.

"I finished work," she said, sitting down next to him and taking the bag of popcorn from  him. "What are we watching?"

" _ A New Hope. _ You aren't hanging out with your new friends?"

"Nah. For some reason I'd rather hang out with you," she said, turning from the screen to face him.

"Is it because I'm cool?"

"No," she said, smirking. "And that is probably why." She turned back to face the screen but Lance was still looking at her.

"Just so you know," Lance said softly, touching her knee "I would have noticed you." 

Pidge sucked in a breath at his admission and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Lance's phone started to ring. He held up his finger and stood up to answer the phone.

"Hey, Plaxum, how's it going?" he said as he walked into his room. She picked up the remote and pressed pause. Maybe she might give Kenny a call.

* * *

Keith, Lance, and Hunk were stood in front of the kitchen counter as Pidge sat on it holding a cup of coffee. They were looking at their new pet, or 'roommate' as Lance liked to call him. It was pretty cute. 

_ "You got a ferret?" _ Shiro said through the phone which Keith was holding out on speaker.

"Yeah, it was in one of the books Allura brought, and I thought it would be a good choice for us," Keith said.

"Yeah, it's small, but you can still play with it," Pidge added, taking a sip of coffee.

_ "How did you even get one? They’re illegal in this state." _

"I know a guy," Keith said simply, causing his roommates to look at him.

"Am I the only one disturbed by that?" Lance said, raising his hand. Pidge shook her head. Hunk started to freak out.

"Illegal!" he exclaimed. "What if we get caught?"

"We won't," Keith said. "Have you seen the size of it?"

"The reason we decided to get a pet was that we found out we could, but only if it was legal and you ignored that."

"So?"

"Does this not bother you two?" Hunk said, looking over at Lance and Pidge, who just shrugged.

"Not really," Pidge and Lance said in unison.

_ "What is he called?" _ Shiro asked.

The roommates took a proper look at the ferret that was currently playing with an old paper towel roll by running through it. They all knew what to name it.

"Shiro."

" _ You're naming a ferret after me? _ " Shiro asked, flabbergasted.

"We miss you," said the male roommates.

"And it matches your colour scheme," Lance said, and then Shiro hung up.

"This is exactly why he moved out." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: It's Christmas in this time line.  
> So I'll be starting uni soon so updates will be a little slower but don't worry I'm not giving up on this fic. If you guys want to know anything as me on tumblr, I also take prompts there. Tell me what you think.


	6. Merry Christmas?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge wonders if she can find the right gift for Kenny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was quick with this chapter as I wanted to get it out before I left for uni so here you go.

"I can't believe Coran got me roller skates for Christmas," Hunk said, rolling around the apartment. "I feel so free."

"We all got roller skates," Keith said, sitting next to Lance, who was wrapping presents for his family. 

"I don't care," Hunk said, rolling over to them and grabbing Keith's chair so he didn't roll further. 

Keith reached over to Lance's pile of wrapped presents and grabbed one. "What even is this?" Keith said. He pulled up the tag and read it. "To Marco. Love, Uncle Lance. And the rest is in Spanish. He can't even read, so what's with the long message?"

"He's five, of course he can read," Lance said, defending his nephew. "And I like to show my family I love them."

"Or it's so he’ll remain the favourite uncle," Hunk said, setting off again to roll around the apartment.

"Partially, and I will always be their favourite uncle."

"Keep telling yourself that." Keith sighed. "What time are your flights?"

"Tomorrow at 3:00 pm," Hunk said, while Lance said, "1:00 am."

"So while your Christmas is spent with your families, mine is staying here looking after ferret Shiro," Keith said, looking over to the cage.

"Don't worry, we'll hang out tonight at your office party," Lance said, while Keith groaned.

"No, I have to dress up as Santa this year."

"How's that a bad thing? You'll get dirt on all your co-workers," said Lance. “And you get a big bonus.” Keith just nodded.

"Ah, the true spirit of Christmas," Hunk said, still rolling around.

"You know what, Hunk?" Keith said, standing up. He was also wearing his roller skates. "You wanna do this? Let’s do this." Keith rolled over to where Hunk was and grabbed his shoulders as Hunk did the same.

"No. No fighting," Lance said, also standing up. "We’re wearing roller skates." Hunk and Keith put their heads together and started to wrestle. "Eh, might as well get involved," Lance said as he grabbed onto Keith and Hunk and tried to push them down.

"I thought we were adults," Hunk said as he fell. Now it was between Keith and Lance.

"Hey!" Pidge yelled as she opened the door and ran into the room, breathless. She pointed at the door. "I need you guys to get into my car right now, and go to the mall with me so I can get a present for Kenny." She turned to face the boys, but they were all on the floor in pile. She looked at their feet and a grin appeared on her face. "You're all wearing the holiday gifts Coran got you." Her voice turned teasing. "That is so sweet you guys. I'm gonna take a picture." She took her phone out of her bag. The boys tried to protest, with Lance crawling towards her while Hunk and Keith went in opposite directions.

"No, don't take a photo right now," he said, reaching up to try and grab the phone, but she kept pulling it out of his reach.

"But it's so cute."

"Please, no pictures."

* * *

 

Lance and Pidge were walking around the mall looking for a gift for Kenny. Well, Pidge was looking while Lance was trying to help.

"Why can't you figure out what to get Kenny?" Lance asked, walking next to Pidge.

"Because we've only been going out for 5 weeks. Do I get him a gag gift, or something serious? I don't know." She stopped and turned to face Lance. "What did you get Nyma when you were dating?"

"Mainly jewelry." He paused. "Which I never actually saw her wear, so I'm not the best person to ask."

"I hate this." She groaned. "I'm bad at getting gifts for boyfriends. For Joe's birthday I gave him a Katie coupon; that's how bad I am." She took them out of her pocket, since she had made more for Kenny too.

"Let's have a look," Lance said as he snatched them out of her hand.

"No you don't," she said, trying to grab them back. But Lance moved them out of her reach. He opened it up to read it.

"Hot nerdy sex that works the both of us."

"It does not say that," she said, still trying to grab it back. Right now she hated that he was so damn tall. 

"It might as well." He started to move away. "I'm gonna keep this. I'm gonna cash this in one day and get some hot nerd sex with you." He started to run faster. 

"Oh my god Lance," she said, chasing after him. When she finally caught up with him she jumped on his back trying to grab the ticket. 

"Okay, okay, okay, get off me." He gave her back the ticket and she jumped off his back. "You're not going to give him that are you."

"No." She sighed. "I need to find something. I can't get him nothing."

"Well, how do you feel about him?" Lance asked, seeming hesitant to hear the answer, but Pidge didn't know why.

"Well, I wouldn't say we are serious. We do have a label on it, but as I said it's only been five weeks."

"So figure out what you feel and get him a gift that reflects that."

"That's actually good advice. Thank you." 

"Why are people surprised when I give them good advice?" Lance said, mainly to himself, but Pidge just smirked at him.

"Well, it is you." 

"I would say something to that, but I need to get more presents so I'm going now. See ya." He started to walk off but turned back to her. "Oh, and if you see Keith, don't listen to his gift advice." And he walked off, leaving her alone to find a gift for her boyfriend.

* * *

 

After she was able to find a present she met up with her roommates near her car and drove them home. They were in the elevator when Pidge turned to Keith.

"Hey, have you got that gift for Allura?" she asked.

"I've got it. Don't worry," said Keith.

"You got her a gift?" Hunk asked. "Poor her," he muttered under his breath, but Keith heard him.

"What does that mean?"

"You're terrible at gifts."

"No, I'm not." 

"For my birthday you got me a burrito in a bucket," Lance said, finally speaking up.

"You ate it, didn't you?" 

When they left the elevator Pidge saw that Kenny was already waiting at the door.

"Hey," Pidge said as she walked over to him while Hunk opened the door and walked into the apartment with Lance and Keith. "You're here earlier than I thought." 

"Urm yeah," Kenny said, scratching behind his ear. "Well, I didn't want to be late."

"And you weren't," she said, grabbing the door handle. "Let's go inside." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her bedroom. When she shut the door she turned to face him. 

"I've got your present," they both said at the same time.

"How about we go at the same time?" Pidge said, and he nodded.

"One, two, three." They pulled their presents from behind their backs. A festive bag from Pidge and envelope from Kenny.

"Festive bag."

"An envelope." Pidge sighed in relief, opening the envelope. "I thought you were going to buy me jewelry so--" Then she saw what was in it. "Oh, my God two tickets to Vienna and tickets to Broadway to see  _ Rent _ which is..." She took a closer look at the ticket. "...seven months from now. I'm speechless."

"You're going to love it."

"And all I got you was--" Kenny pulled his present out of the bag. "--a math for dummies book. You're a math teacher, so I thought it would be funny."  Kenny looked up to face her, smiling. "I'm sorry, I have to get you something better," she said, trying to take the book from him, but he pulled it back.

"No, I love it. It's funny and smart. It's like you. That's why I like it." He pulled her into a hug, which she returned. "I love it, thank you. I...love you." Pidge sucked in a breath, widening her eyes.

"Thank you," she said hesitantly, cringing at her response. He slowly pulled away from her.

"You're very welcome." 

_ Oh shit. _

* * *

 

Allura was waiting at the top of the steps of Keith's workplace. She looked to her right to see her best friend walking up the steps along with Hunk, Shiro, Kenny, and Lance who had a woman on his arm.

"Pidge," Allura said as she ran over to give her friend a hug. Allura let go and held up her wrist, showing a bracelet. "I love it, thank you."

"I know to get you something sparkly," Pidge said. "And look." Pidge opened up her coat to reveal a dark purple dress. 

"You're wearing the dress I got you."

"Of course, I love it. Let's go," Pidge said as Allura linked their arms, and they walked inside.

"Where's Keith?" Shiro asked as they walked around the room, but they found him sat in an armchair covered in tinsel and fairy lights. And he was also wearing a Santa hat and an open Santa jacket with no shirt on and in very tight red pants. Allura did her best to ignore her face heating up with a blush at the sight.

"Oh my god," Shiro said while Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were trying really hard to hold in their laughs. When Keith caught sight of his friends he hid his face behind his hand while waving his other hand at them. 

"Hey, guys!" he shouted across the room, standing up. 

Then Pidge got a better look at him, making her laughter die down. "Are those my pants?" 

Lance and Hunk couldn't contain their laughter anymore.

* * *

 

Pidge squashed through the crowd of people and leaned against the nearest wall, letting out a breath. Kenny had tried to bring up the earlier conversation in her room, so she excused herself and ran off. Like the mature adult she was.

"What's going on between you and Kenny?" Lance asked, leaning on the wall next to her. Damn, he could be observant sometimes.

"Nothing." He gave her a look which caused her to sigh. "He told me he loved me. I couldn't say it back, and I said thank you. It turns out I'm that sort of person."

"Ouch," Lance said, making her groan. "Well, it's not the worst thing to hear. You could have said, 'Oh shit.' That is definitely worse."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect to get this serious so fast. We've only been dating for like a month." She sighed. "When I've told someone I loved them they always said it back. I feel like such an asshole."

"Well if you don't have feelings for him, you gotta tell him."

"I can't do that on Christmas, and then it's New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day, and then it's something else." She moaned. He put out his arm behind her, letting her head fall on his shoulder and wrapping his arm around her.

"Well, that's sound logic, but you need to tell him. Leading him on will just be worse." She sighed in agreement. She looked up and rested her chin on his shoulder, but she had to be on her tiptoes to do it.

"How's your date going?" she asked.

"Much better than yours I hope." He let out a laugh, making her feel the vibrations from his chest. She found it very comforting.

"She seems great," she said softly, ignoring how it made her heart hurt a little.

"Yeah, she is," he said, looking down at Pidge. "Go tell him." 

"Urgh fine." She pushed herself off his shoulder and stepped away from him. She walked around the room trying to find Kenny. She was able to find him talking to someone and started to walk towards him. When Kenny looked over at her she panicked and opened the ladies’ toilets and went inside, leaning against the door as she shut it behind her. 

* * *

 

Allura made her way through the group of people and found where Keith was sat. He currently had a very drunk woman sat on his lap. Allura could hear the woman complaining about another one of her co-workers, so she decided to save Keith the torture and walked over to him.

"Hey lady, it's my turn," Allura said, tapping the woman on the shoulder. The woman begrudgingly stood up and walked off. Keith turned to Allura, relief on his face.

"Thank you, I've had to deal with her for nearly 10 minutes," Keith said, shifting in his seat.

"No problem, I don't have to sit on you to do I?" Allura asked.

"I'd really prefer it if you didn't," he said, causing her to laugh. 

"Why are you doing this? You seem to hate it."

"I wasn’t aware it was sexy Santa and I get paid decently, and we need the money as there was an accident."

“I’m presuming Lance was involved”

“We all were. But mainly Lance”

"That sucks."

"Yeah, it does. I got you a gift by the way." He reached down to the side of the chair looking for it.

"You did? I didn't get you anything," she said, feeling guilty. 

"Don't worry about it," he said, handing her a thin cylinder. "It’s just kind of a thank you for inviting me to the Arus building and helping us find ferret Shiro. All that stuff."

"What?" Allura asked, confused. She opened it and pulled out an A3 paper. "You didn't have to--" The words died on her lips when saw the drawing. It was a pencil drawing of her when she was younger with her mother. "It's wonderful," she said, disbelief in her voice. "Where did you get the photo?" she asked, turning her face to Keith.

"Pidge actually suggested it, so it's all her really." Keith shyly scratched the back of his neck.

"But you drew it." She leaned down to give him a hug, surprising him, but he quickly returned it. "Thank you," she said as she pulled away. Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her bag to check the message.

_ PIDGE _

_ [20:41] Bathroom now!!!!!!!! _

  
  


She was confused when she saw the message, but her friend needed her. She turned back to Keith.

"I've got to go, but see you later," Allura said walking off but quickly turned back. "Oh, and thank you again." She gave him a smile and walked to find the ladies’ room. When she found it she walked in and quickly looked in the mirror, checking her make-up.

"Great you came." Startled, she turned around to she Pidge leaning against the wall eating cookies out of her bag.

"What are you doing in here?" Allura asked, walking over to stand next to Pidge.

"Eating cookies and avoiding confrontation," she said, taking a bite of the cookie. Allura didn't want to ask how many of those she had eaten.

"Aha," Allura said, nodding her head. "Do you remember when Christmas used to be fun?"

"Yeah, and we'd watch Coran get drunk on nunvil. When he drank that he always thought I was a boy."

"To be fair, you had short hair," Allura said making Pidge laugh. 

Pidge moaned and slid down the bathroom wall, sitting down with Allura doing the same.  "He told me he loved me, but I couldn't say it back. When I decided to try and talk to him, I panicked, and so I'm hiding in here. What's wrong with me? He's a great guy." Pidge turned to face Allura. "Am I overthinking this? Maybe I should just make it work."

"Yeah, no. Pidge, you can't just dive into something like this right now."

"Yeah." She let her head fall on Allura's shoulder. "I wish we could just stay in this bathroom all night."

"Me too." And then one of the toilet stalls opened and a woman came stumbling out.

"Whoo that eggnog is deadly," the woman said, leaving the bathroom.

"We need to get out of here." 

"Yeah, we do." 

"Maybe I should put it off until after the holidays. You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec. Liam wants to go to this party."

"Urgh, Liam is the living worst," Pidge said, standing up. "Did he even get you a gift?"

"No," Allura said softly as Pidge shut the door behind her. She pulled the drawing out again to have a better look at it.

* * *

 

"Hey, I've been looking for you," Plaxum said. Lance turned to see her standing next to him. "Where were you?" she asked.

"Oh just talking to Pidge about something," Lance said gesturing behind him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said in a tone that was meant to be calm but still had an edge to it that unnerved Lance. "So there is nothing between you and Pidge?"

"What? No. As I told you, she's my roommate," Lance said waving her off. "I actually  got out of a long relationship eight months ago with my college girlfriend." He turned to face Plaxum, who was giving him a confused look. "And one of the rules of a first date is not to talk about your exes."

"It's okay, I get it." Lance opened his mouth to respond, but in the corner of his eye he saw Kenny walking towards the balcony, and he did not look happy. Plaxum turned around to see what Lance was looking at. 

"Urm is it okay if I go check up on him?" Lance asked hesitantly. Boy, was he being a bad date tonight.

"Yeah, sure." She sighed. "I think I better get going anyway. I have to catch a flight tomorrow; that's why I was looking for you."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and walked to the balcony where Kenny was.

"Hey," Lance said. As he approached Kenny, he turned to face him. "Has Pidge talked to you?" 

"Oh yeah, she has." 

Lance sighed and decided that it was best to try and comfort him. "So she doesn't love you right now, Kenny, but she might sometime in the future. You might just have to wait a while." 

Kenny looked at him in confusion. "We talked about how we might have to drive you to the airport."

"Oh, crap."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Pidge is gonna kill me," Lance muttered under his breath while Kenny tried to collect his thoughts. "I'm really drunk so don't listen to me."

"Did she tell you that she didn't love me?" Kenny asked, leaving Lance speechless.

"Nooo," Lance said, trying to backtrack. "Why would she--"

"Hey, what are you guys doing out here?"  

Lance turned to see Pidge standing in the doorway looking at them. "Bye Pidge," Lance said, tapping her on the shoulder and quickly walking past her. She turned to walk over to Kenny, who looked just as confused as her. 

"I have a question about Lance," he asked hesitantly.

"Sure, go ahead," she said, crossing her arms to warm up.

"Did you guys go out or something? Or did something happen?"

"No," she said, confused. "We didn't, but what makes you think that?"

"Well, we just talked, and he said that you didn't feel the same way yet or something. I thought maybe he was jealous." Pidge sucked in a breath which didn't go unnoticed. "Wait, was he right?"

She hesitated until she decided the right thing to say. "Yeah, he was right."

"Oh okay," Kenny said, slowly sitting down on the bench. 

Lance was  _ so  _ dead. "Kenny I-" she said softly, sitting down next to him.

"You don't love me?"

"I think it's best for both of us that I don't answer that," she said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. "No. I don't."

"I know you just got out of a relationship with Joe, but I thought we were feeling the same things for each other. It seemed like you were."

"We were, but perhaps you were feeling them a little bit more than me." She sighed. "Look, I got really hurt, and I'm trying really hard not to get hurt again." Her voice wavered. "Can we keep going but just take it a little bit slower?"

"I don't know if I can do that," Kenny said, his voice also wavering.

"Okay."

"Sorry, Pidge, but I don't want to slow down with you, and if that doesn't feel right, I can't do this anymore."

"Okay, so we are breaking up," Pidge said, leaning her head against the wall. Kenny stood up and pointed towards the door.

"I'm gonna go."

"Yeah. Bye Kenny," Pidge said, giving him a soft smile.

"Bye Katie." He walked inside and Pidge let her head fall into her hands and groaned.

Lance was so fucking dead.

* * *

"You look like a complete idiot," Lance said, walking over to Keith who was still in the Santa chair while he was talking to Shiro. Both of them turned to Lance.

"I know I do," Keith said, with his teeth clenched.

"To be honest, I don't know why she asked you," Lance said. "Because I exist and I am  _ so  _ much better looking than you."

"Yeah, next year I'll suggest you."

"Good idea. Because you," he said, gesturing to Keith,"are eh. And then there's me." He put his hands on his chest. Shiro let his head fall into his palm.

"Don't you have a date to annoy?" Keith asked with a bite to his voice.

"Oh, I just talked to her. She has an early flight tomorrow so she left."

"So you drove her away."

"No, I didn't. We actually made plans for when we both get back. So suck it, Keith," Lane said triumphantly. Keith and Shiro just rolled their eyes.

"Hey," Hunk said as he walked over to them, turning to Lance. "Your mom just called and I think we better get going."

"Yeah sure--"  Lance started to say, but he was interrupted by his phone buzzing. It was from Pidge.

_ PIDGE _

_ [23:01] So Kenny left. _

_ [23:01] I'm so fucking pissed at you right now. _

_ [23:01] I'm going home. _

 

Lance sighed and put his phone in his back pocket. 

"Who was that?" Hunk asked.

"Pidge. She and Kenny broke up," Lance said, feeling guilty.

"Was this your fault?" Keith asked.

"What? No?" Lance tried to deny. "Why would it be my fault?"

"So it was your fault," Shiro said, and Hunk and Keith nodded.

"I gotta go talk to her," Lance said, walking off to find Pidge and ignoring Hunk's shouting in protest.

* * *

 

Pidge was back at the loft playing one of her video games, and every time she shot someone it was Lance. Hey, he deserved it. She was so absorbed in the gameplay that she didn't notice that the front door opened. 

"How are you feeling?" Startled she turned to see Lance shutting the door behind him.

"Don't do that," she said, pausing her game. "Are you looking for me to punch you?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that the bad guys--"he pointed to the screen--"have the runt of it for me." He tried to get a laugh out of her, but she was still glaring at him. He sighed and walked over to sit down next to her. "Look, Pidge, I'm sorry."

"Why did you tell him?" 

"I thought you already talked to him, he looked down about something."

"Yeah. He was," Pidge said, her voice getting louder. "I was avoiding him all night after he told me he loved me. But it was not your information to share."

"Don't you think I know that?" Lance said, his voice also getting louder, but he quickly calmed down. "Look I'm sorry I told him, I was trying to help you, but I just made things worse." 

"Okay," Pidge said softly. "I accept your apology, But I'm still pissed at you."

"And that is entirely fair," Lance said, raising his hands, making her laugh. "I would have preferred to give this to you under nicer circumstances, but I guess this is the best time." He pulled a small box out of his suit jacket pocket.

"You're not proposing to me, are you?" 

"No," he said, flustered. "  saw them and I thought you would like them." He gave the box to her, and she opened it to see a pair of earrings. Caffeine molecule earrings.

"You love your coffee and you love science. I hope you like them." She took them out of the box and put them in her ears.

"I am never taking these out." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, lingering for a few seconds. "Thank you," she said quietly and pulled away, tucking her hair behind her ears. Lance was frozen in place until his phone rang, bringing him back to his senses and taking his phone out of his pocket.

"Hey, Ma," Lance said into the phone and pushing himself off the couch. "Yeah, I'm gonna miss my flight. No, Ma, please stop yelling. I'll find another one." Pidge covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing. "Ma, please." Lance stood up and walked to his bedroom, leaving Pidge alone on the couch. She reached up and fiddled with her new earrings.

“Merry Christmas, Lance,” she muttered, looking at his door. “Thank you.”

  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Meet the Landlord.  
> I was thinking of making a playlist would anybody be interested in that?


	7. just three people

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Pidge gets's fed up with the broken sink she decides to call the landlord for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. sorry, this took a while but I hope you like this chapter.

Pidge and Lance were stood in line at their local coffee shop waiting in line to order.

"I don't know why you came along,” Lance said. “I can get a few drinks by myself." 

Pidge who just rolled her eyes. "Last time you spilled them all over your car," she stated.

"It was in an accident," he said in defense, but Pidge just raised an eyebrow.

"Lance, I saw you. You were blasting Beyoncé and hit the cups. I watched through the windows."

"Wrong. It was Shakira." 

Pidge just rolled her eyes. They heard the barista shout and both stepped forward.

"Hey, Pidge," the barista, Shay, greeted. "Hey Lance, what can I get you?"

"The usual," Lance said with a wink, but Pidge elbowed him. Shay walked off to take the order.

"You have a girlfriend," said Pidge.

" So? I was being nice," Lance said, rubbing his ribs. Pidge could really pack a punch. "She was flirting back."

"How?" Pidge asked in bewilderment.

"She smiled."

"She's a barista, it's her job."

"But it was a special smile." 

Pidge groaned, but their names were called out before she could say anything. She took the cups from Shay and dragged Lance out before he made a fool of himself.

* * *

 

"She wasn't flirting with you, Lance," Pidge said as they walked into the apartment’s kitchen with Lance carrying the drinks.

"She winked at me," Lance said, but Pidge just scoffed, turning to Hunk and Lance who were sat at the kitchen island. 

"Do you think she was flirting with Lance?" Pidge asked. Both Hunk and Keith shook their heads. 

Lance was insulted. "If she wasn't flirting with me why would she draw a heart?" Lance asked, lifting the cup out of its holder and showing them the side of the cup. Before he could gloat Pidge plucked it out of his hands and took a proper look.

"This is Hunk's," she said, leaning closer to Lance to show him the cup. "Look, it's his order." 

Lance took the cup back and grinned at Hunk. "Shay's into you," he said, his voice giddy. He passed the cup over to Hunk. "Ask her out."

"No," Hunk said nervously. "Maybe she does that for everyone." He pointed towards Keith, who looked confused and shook his head. 

Lance picked up his own cup and looked at it. "Lance, no heart."

"No heart for me," Pidge said. "She likes you."

"I don’t think so, but she does laugh at my puns."

"If she laughs at your puns she’s into you," said Lance.

"My puns are amazing!"

"They are the worst things in existence."

"Hunk's got an admirer!" Pidge sang, walking over to the sink. When she turned it on, it made a gurgling sound and started spraying water. "Ah goddamnit." Pidge scrambled away from the kitchen sink. 

Lance reached to the top of the cupboard and pulled down a taped up pole. "I've got it. Relax." He shoved the pole in the drain and started wriggling about until the gurgling sound and water stopped. "It's fixed."

"This is ridiculous," Pidge groaned, moving her wet hair out of her face. "I'm calling the landlord." Her roommates protested, even with cereal in their mouth.

"Don't call the landlord,” said Lance. “We don't need him here; he's a jerk."

"That thing almost took my eye out yesterday!" Pidge yelled, pointing at the sink.  "And now I'm soaked."

"No, don't call the landlord," Keith said after swallowing his cereal.

"He sucks," said Hunk.

"Don't call the landlord, Pidge," said Lance, leaning on the counter with his arms folded.

"Okay," Pidge said, hiding the smirk on her face.

* * *

Lance and Keith were stood behind the couch as they watched Hunk, sat down, staring at his coffee cup from the morning. They had come back to the apartment to see him sitting there. They had been stood there for the past seven minutes, but Hunk hadn't noticed.

Keith finally lost his patience. "For the love of God, Hunk,” he said, “go talk to her."

His voice made Hunk jump up to face them. "Oh, hi," he said shyly, rubbing the back of his head. "When did you guys get here?" 

"Seven minutes ago," Keith answered. "How long you been staring at that cup for?" He nodded his head towards the cup. 

Before Hunk could answer the front door opened with Pidge barging in. "Hey guys," she said quickly. "Remember that time with the ketchup grenade and I yelled at you? Well, I apologize for that. Now, what if--"

"What did you do, Pidge?" Lance asked, but he was answered by a knock on the door.

"Open up," they heard a gruff voice coming from the other side of the door, and they all widened their eyes in panic.

"Did you talk to the landlord?" Lance asked, pointing towards the door.

"A little bit," Pidge said, and the boys sprang into action.

"It's happening!" 

"Let's go."

"Call me Nyle," Keith said to her, running past to his bedroom along with Lance and Hunk. Pidge followed them on confusion. She was even more confused when Hunk told her to open the balcony doors. She did so, and Hunk and Lance ran out of Keith's room holding his mattress and throwing it onto the balcony.

"I told you we didn't practice this enough!" Keith yelled while throwing his clothes onto the balcony as Hunk pushed a chair into Keith's room. “Why do I have to do this?”

“Because you have the least stuff,” Lance said as he ran over to the door. He opened it with Hunk behind him to see the landlord standing there. 

He walked into the apartment without saying a word.

Keith, pulling a suitcase with Pidge at his side, ran out of his room and waved. "Hello," Keith said in a fake Irish accent. It was taking a lot of willpower for Pidge not to laugh. "I had such a nice visit to New York." He started walking towards the door. "All the sights, fancy people, pizza." He gave Hunk a quick hug and walked out, Lance shutting it behind him. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge all faked laughter, but the landlord’s mood didn't change.

"Someone told me four people are living here," he said, and he began to walk around the apartment towards Keith's bedroom.

"Well that person doesn't know what she's talking about," Lance said, ducking his head and following him.  _ Oh fuck you, Lance _ . "You don't want to go in the library. Oh, who left the library like this?" The landlord took one quick look and walked off, and they had to run after him. He went into Hunk's, where Keith happened to be poorly hiding behind a chair.

"Hello," Keith said in his fake accent, peeping over the chair. "Flight's canceled." Pidge just sighed and they left the room and walked back into the hall.

"To be honest I was expecting it to be a lot worse," the landlord said, which surprised them. "Four people living here is fine and doesn't bother me anymore." He made to leave but Pidge stopped him. Might as well.

"Hey, wait,” Pidge said. “Look, I know they lied." She pointed her thumb behind her. "But since you're up here can you fix a few things? Please, Ron."

"How do you know my name?" Ron asked suspiciously. "Did they tell you?"  The boys looked at each other in slight fear.

"I saw your tattoo that says, 'Hello my name is Ron.’ I just assumed." 

Ron sighed. "What do you need fixing?"

"Just close your eyes and point at something," Lance said, but Ron gave him a stern look.

"Her, not you." Pidge turned to Lance and gave him a smug smile. _Take that._  


* * *

Pidge was in her room watching, while Ron fixed her walkin closet door.

"Thanks again for doing this," Pidge said awkwardly, but Ron shrugged it off.

"No problem," he said, standing up. "Do you want me to show ya how to fix it?" Ron asked gesturing towards the door.

"No, it's okay," Pidge said, brushing him off.

"No, let me show you." He grabbed her arm to pull her in, but they were interrupted when Pidge heard a voice.

"Okay, that's enough." Pidge turned around to see Lance standing in her doorway looking over at Ron with a forced smile on his face. "Pidge, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, pointing his thumb behind him towards the kitchen. 

She followed him out, and they stood next to the kitchen island. "So, what's up?" Pidge asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That man wants to sleep with you," he said bluntly.

"What? No, he doesn't," she said, taken back. "He was just showing me--"

"Anytime a man shows a woman how to do something from behind,” he explained, “it’s just an opportunity to get really close and smell her neck. Watch any sports movie."

Pidge shook her head. "That's not a thing."

"Would you mind picking up that mug?" Rolling her eyes, she went to pick up the mug, but Lance stopped her. He said in his flirty voice, "Oh no you're doing it all wrong. Look." he walked behind her and put his hands on hers. "I've been doing this for years." 

Pidge let out a laugh, trying to ignore the heat on her neck and how comfortable it felt in his arms. She pushed him off and turned around to face him. "He wasn't going to do that."

"Yes, he was."

"He was not."

"Boy, I'm working up an appetite in there," Ron said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. "I hope you don’t mind the smell of a real man in your room." Pidge cringed, but unlike Lance, she hid it. There was  _ no _ way Lance was right. "Let's get started on that bed." 

Lance turned to Pidge giving her a confused look.

"He's turning my mattress."

"Yeah sure."

* * *

Keith was lying on the couch reading a book as he heard the front door burst open. He looked up from the sofa to see Hunk pacing around the room.

"You okay, Hunk?" he asked, looking over at his friend, who stopped pacing to look over at him. "What's up?"

"I asked Shay out." That made Keith sit up. "I actually did it, and we have a date tonight."

"That's great."

"What's great?" Lance said as he walked into the living room. "Are you finally going to cut that mullet?" he asked, looking over at Keith.

"What is your problem? Actually never mind. Hunk asked Shay on a date." He waved his hand over to where Hunk was stood. 

Lance couldn't hide his excitement and gave Hunk a tight hug. Keith just rolled his eyes. "I'm so proud of you," he said into Hunk's ear, and then let him go. "Where are you going?"

"To see a movie. But I haven't decided what."

"Romance," Lance said, while Keith input, "Action."

"It's a date! Why would they see an action movie?”

"How about listening to neither of them?" Pidge said as she walked into the room. "They give shit advice."

"Do you even know what we’re talking about?" Lance asked.

"Nope, but what I said still stands. By the way, I invited Ron over for dinner to thank him for fixing stuff around the apartment. Who's in?" They all shook their heads no and muttered excuses, with only Hunk's being reasonable. "Okay, so it will just be us two. " 

That caught Lance's attention. "Oh no," he said, letting out a harsh laugh. "I've changed my mind, I'll be there, just watching."

"That doesn't sound disturbing," Keith said under his breath.

"Shut it, mullet."

* * *

Later that night Pidge and Lance sat down for dinner with Ron, who brought his homemade wine which Pidge thought was one of the most disgusting things she had ever tasted. After dinner and some very awkward conversation, they moved over to the couch. Lance and Pidge were pretending to laugh at a joke that Ron had told them. When the laughter died down, Ron excused himself for a bathroom break, and Pidge moved closer to Lance, sitting on her knees so she could lean over him.

"See? No flirting. I'm right," Pidge said with a smug smile on her face, but Lance had his own.

"Don't you see the way he's buttering me up so he can make a move on you?"

"Just admit you’re wrong, Lance."

"How have you lived this long like this?"

"He does not want to sleep with me," she said, pointing her thumb in the direction that Ron walked.

"He's been creeping on you all night."

"No, he hasn't."

"For god's sake, Pidge--" he cut off, which confused Pidge.

Pidge saw Lance's eyes and mouth widen, and she turned around to see the landlord standing in his underwear.  _ What the fuck? _

"I've never had a threesome," Ron said nonchalantly. "This is what we are doing here, right?" 

Pidge and Lance just sat there staring at him. "This I did not expect," Lance muttered under his breath.

* * *

Lance and Pidge were stood outside her bedroom, while Ron was inside waiting.

"I love it when I'm right," Lance said, leaning on the doorframe and smirking at Pidge.

"So I may have been a little bit off about Ron, but--" Pidge said, but Lance interrupted her.

"He wants to have a threesome with us." He moved his hand between the both of them. "What are you going to say? He just wants a little comfort."

"Well, he did just get divorced so..." Pidge trailed off quietly.

"You're still making excuses for this guy? " Lance asked. Pidge opened her mouth to protest but he continued talking. "I'm all for looking for the good in people, but this guy is a creep. But hey, if you feel so bad for him then just get in there." Lance opened the door without taking his eyes off Pidge.  _ What is he doing? _

"Hey, Ron!" Lance shouted. Both Pidge and Lance turned to see Ron doing lunges. "Let's get weird and toss that ball around huh?" he asked, but Pidge quickly reached out and shut the door again. "So turned on," he said through his teeth, feigning seriousness.

"You would seriously have a threesome with that man to get me to admit that I'm wrong?" she said quietly, so Ron couldn't hear. Honestly, she wasn't surprised, since it was Lance. He was just as stubborn as her.

"Oh, no, I think we could do a lot worse than Ron. He has strong arms." She heard the smugness in Lance's voice as Pidge pushed the door back open. She took off her heels and threw them on the ground at Lance's feet. Two could play at that game.

"Let's have a threesome." Pidge smiled tightly at him and walked in the room and stood near Ron who was still doing deep lunges. 

Lance hung his head, slapping his face in his own form a of a pep talk. He could easily leave now, but he didn't want to leave Pidge alone with this guy. "Let's do this," He said, mainly to himself, and he walked into the room after her.

"Okay so a menage a trois is the three of us," Ron said, pointing between the three of them. "Trois…Menaging…fully." He wore a bemused grin.

"Okay, Pidge, this is happening…with this guy." Lance pointed at Ron, hiding the disgust on his face and silently pleading with Pidge to stop this. Pidge looked over to Ron and a level of panic rose in her but when she looked over at Lance hoping he would end it, he had a slight smirk on his face as if he knew what she wanted to say.

"Yep, we are doing this,  _ Lance _ ," she said, her voice steely and lowering at his name.

"I'm going to put some music on," Ron said. "Some relaxed music to set the mood.”

"Great idea," Lance said, and when Ron's back was turned, Pidge and Lance turned to face each other and lowered their voices talking over each other.

"That is our landlord," Lance said between his teeth.

"Won't you ever listen to me, we are about to have--”

"Oh my God you are so stubborn why--"

"Hey like you aren't! You are so--" Their argument was interrupted when Ron turned back around, music now playing in the background. Pidge and Lance started to awkwardly dance.

"Yeah get into it."

"Oh, I am  _ so _ into this." Ron walked up behind Lance, rubbing his hands over Lance's shoulders and through his hair. Seeing Lane's look of fear, Pidge had no doubt he would be the first to stop.  _ You're done, McClain. _

But then Ron guided Lance over to Pidge and put their hands together. "Now you two get this started."

"Me and Pidge get this started?" Lance asked, with it coming out more like a statement than a question. Lance glanced over at Pidge to see her reaction, but she looked just as confused as he felt.

"Us two?" Pidge said, nervously forcing a smile. She ran her hands over Lance's arms, thinking it was the right thing to do. Pidge looked over at Lance and saw that he was starting to egg her on as if she wouldn't go through with it.

"Just breathe each other in," Ron instructed, pretending to play the flute along with the music.

"Yeah, just relax into the ménage," Lance said with an edge of cockiness. Okay, he was really pissing her off now.

"Okay, we are doing this."  _ I can make him fold.  _ "Okay, Lance, I will do this."

"Yeah, let's do this Pidge." Calling her bluff, Lance quickly grabbed her face and leaned down to kiss her.

"Noooooo!" Pidge yelled, and she shoved her arms between them and pushed him away. "Fine you win, you were right."

"YES!" Lance shouted, throwing his hands up in victory, while Pidge screamed into the palms of her hands. "Yes." Lance walked past Ron and gave him a high five, leaving Ron confused.

"What, we're not doing this?" he asked, and Lance and Pidge shook their heads

"No, not happening."

"We are not doing this." Pidge sat down on her bed and let her head fall into her hands.

"I get it; cold feet is part of the journey." 

Pidge door’s opened wider, and she looked over to see Hunk standing there. "What the hell is going on in here?" Hunk asked, scanning the room with disbelieving eyes

"Okay, I am not up for a four-way," Ron said, causing Pidge and Lance to groan.

* * *

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance were sat around the dining table drinking the last of Ron's "wine". Hunk stood up and walked over to the sink to get himself a glass of water.

"Why didn't you tell me four people couldn't live in this apartment? If we’re going to do shenanigans, I'm fine with that. Just keep me involved, so I can top you from doing something stupid." She muttered the last bit, but Hunk heard her.

"Didn't you just almost have a threesome?" Pidge and Lance just glared at him. Hunk threw his hands up in defeat and walked over to the kitchen light switch and turned it off using a wooden spoon. The light popped, making both Lance and Pidge jump. "Okay, just so we’re clear, we're going to have to live with this, right?" Both Pidge and Lance answered with a definitive yes. "Okay, I have a date see ya." Hunk walked to his bedroom with a skip still in his step, which Pidge took that the date went well. She forgot to ask.

"Well, that got weird," Lance said.

"Yeah, it did," she said, making both of them laugh. "Look, I'm really sorry it got out of hand. I can get really stubborn."

"Oh, I'm stubborn too. I wouldn't have backed down, but thank you for admitting you were wrong." And then a smirk appeared on his face, making her roll her eyes. "I'm on an ego high right now. Oh, how I love being right!"

"Yeah, take it while it lasts, which won't be very long," Pidge said, amused at his cockiness. "Maybe I just said it to get us out of the situation, you don't know."

"I don't believe you, Pidge. You are way too stubborn." Lance laughed. "But you wouldn't be you if you weren't." He stood up and took one last sip of his drink, flinching in disgust. "I need to stop that."

"Good idea." She stood up and walked past him.

"Very flattered by the way." Pidge turned back to look at him, confused. "By the amount of disgust you showed when I was about to kiss you." He elaborated with a grin on his face.

"Obviously, like urgh." She made a fake gagging noise. "Disgusting."

"Hey, don't think I wouldn't have the same thought." Pidge knew he was teasing from the grin on his face. "And I'm an excellent kisser"

"Oh really?" she said, taking a step towards him. "That's a large ego you got there."

"Hey, I've received compliments."

"Compliments or complaints?" Cocking her head to the side she looked up to face him. Both of them laughed.

Their laughter died down when they realised how they both had unconsciously moved closer together. Faces inches from each other, chests almost touching.

_ God, he smells good. Why didn't I kiss him again? Wait, What? _

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by Lance's phone. As it vibrated loudly on the table, breaking the moment. Or what she thought was a moment. Lance reached behind for his phone as Pidge took a couple steps back, accidentally bumping into the back of the sofa. He checked his phone and looked at the screen to see who was calling.

"It's Plaxum." Lance cleared his throat, showing her the screen.

"Then answer it," Pidge said, trying to hide the waviness in her voice. "She's your girlfriend, that's what you do." 

Lance hesitated for a second, then answered his phone as he walked to his room. "Plaxum, hey, yeah, at home. Nope, not doing anything..." He shut the door behind him, leaving a confused Pidge alone, gripping the back of the sofa. 

Pidge shook her head, trying to clear it. "Nothing to worry about," she said, walking to her room. "Totally normal roommate behaviour." She slammed the door behind her.

* * *

Lance and Pidge were waiting for the elevator a week after their awkward moment, with it forgotten and pushed out of their memories. When the elevator doors opened they stepped in to see Ron standing there. They both bowed their heads, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"My door is always open," he said in a low voice and making Pidge and Lance cringe in disgust.

_ What? _

 

__

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next time: Valentine's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if you think i should continue this.  
> follow me on tumblr if you want!


End file.
